Foreign farm workers are struggling amid Trump’s immigration crackdown: ‘It was terrifying’ | US immigration

FFarmworker Owen Salmon has been picking apples in upstate New York for nearly a decade, about 1,500 miles from home. This year, during the height of harvest season, Hurricane Melissa, a record Category 5 hurricane, made landfall in Jamaica.

“It was terrifying,” said Salmon, whose wife and two children lived near Black River, a town on the country’s southwest coast. “For days I didn’t hear from them. When I finally heard from them, I heard that my roof was completely gone. My wife and children had to flee for their lives, but thank God they are alive.”

An estimated 90,000 homes and 360,000 people were affected by the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. Salmon is one of approximately 5,000 Jamaican workers who come to the United States each year on an H-2A visa.

The H-2A guest worker visa program allows U.S. farms and agricultural businesses to hire foreign workers for temporary jobs. It plays an important role in the U.S. agricultural industry, which remains dependent on foreign labor at crucial times in the calendar: Last year, more than 380,000 workers were approved for H-2A visas, or about 15 percent of the U.S. agricultural workforce.

“Our boss would tell us he likes the H-2A program because you can be in it this year and next year he doesn’t have to have us back,” said Salmon, who works at Wafler Farms in Wolcott, New York. “He threatened us if we didn’t work quickly and there was no one to stop him. »

“Dozens of workers” who “did nothing wrong” were unable to return from one year to the next, Salmon said. Wafler Farms denied this, saying they never recalled workers, but were “required to actively recruit and offer U.S. workers positions before hiring a worker under the H-2A program.”

Salmon is one of several New York farm workers represented by the United Farm Workers, which has launched a fundraiser to rebuild their homes and those of other union workers affected by the hurricane.

“I came home to see what was happening, and everything was gone. No house, nothing,” said Damian, an H-2A farm worker from Jamaica who worked at Cahoon Farms in Wolcott, New York. Concerned about his status as a worker in the United States, he refused to provide his last name. “This is something that took 20 to 30 years to build, and in just a few hours it was gone.”

A week before the storm, Damian’s wife gave birth. He said he has struggled to care for his family since returning home following the hurricane. “Here, if you don’t have a job, what are you supposed to do? I just hope for the best,” he said. “It’s terrible.”

Marley, who also declined to give her last name, has worked at Cahoon Farms in New York since 2018, alongside Damian. He was there when the storm hit Jamaica, where his mother and children live.

“I was just hoping and praying that I would be able to get home before the storm,” Marley said. “When I found out my house had been destroyed, I was devastated.”

He has since returned to Jamaica, but has been unable to make contact with dozens of friends and colleagues.

Reports of price gouging have materialized since the hurricane. Marley said her family was struggling with rising food prices, with several basic items such as flour still unavailable.

“It’s not easy,” he said. “Most of my friends, I can’t get in touch with them, and I still feel for them. And I won’t be comfortable until I hear from all these guys.”

Most of the roofs of houses in the community of Salmon, in Jamaica’s Black River region, are gone, Salmon said. Building materials are expensive – and their costs have skyrocketed since the hurricane.

Every year, he said, Jamaican farm workers leave their homes and families to work on American farms, often for low wages and in poor working conditions.

In 2022, Salmon and his colleagues unionized. A Wayne County judge recently upheld the New York State Labor Board’s decision to certify the union after the employer argued that H-2A guest workers could not unionize while refusing to recognize the union.

Following the decision, Wafler Farms “began coordinating with the UFW to move forward with implementing the negotiation agreement,” a spokesperson said.

“With regard to Hurricane Melissa, we recognize the devastating impact it has had on Jamaica and its people, with extensive damage to homes across the island,” they added. “In the aftermath of the storm, Wafler Farms made donations to several well-known humanitarian organizations actively involved in housing reconstruction and community support.

“We have also shared information about these organizations with our workers so that they can access assistance if they or their families are affected. We understand that some workers have created a GoFundMe campaign upon their return to Jamaica to further contribute to the reconstruction efforts. We encourage anyone who wishes to contribute to do so through whatever avenue they believe will best support the recovery process.”

Cahoon Farms did not respond to requests for comment.