Immigrant Farmworkers Research Articles

“Precarious status: illegality and mental health among immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic”

Purpose During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrants faced new challenges that increased their precarity which often perpetuated existing social and health-related inequities. This compounded inadequate access to healthcare, harsh working conditions, marginalization due to legal status and fear of deportation, all of which were worsened during the height of the pandemic. This article aims to examine how existing social factors that marginalize immigrant populations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic based on a study with immigrant farmworkers in Apopka, Florida. Design/methodology/approach The author analyzes how they were affected by stress both before and during the pandemic, and how these factors affected their mental health. Findings The author concludes that im/migrants’ often precarious status negatively affects their experiences with mental health, and that this was heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the long-term nature of precarity for this vulnerable population, this study captures these issues as they were experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value This research contributes to emerging scholarship concerning social factors and mental health during the pandemic by examining the experiences of one of the most marginal populations in the United States.

The promise and limits of inclusive public policy: federal safety net clinics and immigrant access to health care in the U.S.

Abstract In the United States, exclusionary public policies generate inequalities within and across labor, financial, and legal status hierarchies, which together undermine immigrant well-being. But can inclusive public policies improve immigrant health? We examine whether and how an immigrant-inclusive federal program, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), shaped health care access and use among farmworkers over nearly three decades, paying particular attention to disparities at the intersection of nativity and legal status. Linking historical administrative data on the location and funding of FQHCs with the National Agricultural Workers Survey from 1989–2017, we first document trends in farmworkers’ county-level proximity to FQHCs and identify a steady increase in FQHC access among undocumented farmworkers following the Affordable Care Act. Next, using time-series cross-sectional regressions with a battery of fixed effects, we find that living in a county where FQHCs are available and better resourced is associated with increased health care use among undocumented farmworkers, but not among U.S.-born or documented immigrant farmworkers. We also find that county-level access to FQHCs is associated with reduced reports of language barriers to care among both documented and undocumented foreign-born farmworkers. These findings suggest that FQHCs may improve access for immigrants who are typically excluded from U.S. health care institutions. Still, county-level FQHC infrastructure is not associated with cost-related barriers to care for any nativity or legal status groups. Taken together, our study highlights both the potential and constraints of inclusive public policies for promoting health equity in a welfare state context characterized by commodification and stratification.

“En El Campo, Siempre Es Asi”: A Mixed Methodological Assessment of Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Farmworker Legal Needs in Oregon

This paper uses a convergent mixed method approach to assess the legal needs of Oregon's immigrant (Spanish-speaking) farmworking population. We adapt an English-language survey into Spanish, ensuring the validity of the quantitative results by employing intercept surveys at farmworkers' housing complexes, recording qualitative data regarding the ensuing social interactions, and generating ethnographic fieldnotes on the interactions, participants, and surrounding environs. We find that immigration is an umbrella category that structures other legal needs, rather than a legal need co-equal with other important categories such as healthcare, employment, housing, discrimination, and harassment. Our mixed methods approach provided rich descriptions of surveyed concerns as well as detecting and explaining the undercounting of categories such as law enforcement contact and sexual harassment.

Impacts of COVID-19 shelter in place across key life domains among immigrant farmworker Latina mothers and young adults

ObjectiveIndividuals and families from racial and ethnic groups experience social and economic disadvantage making them vulnerable to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study sought to capture the impacts of Shelter in Place (SIP) across key life domains including family life, education, work, mental health, and coping strategies among a sample of Mexican-origin mothers who were currently engaged in agricultural work, or whose spouses were engaged in agricultural work, and young adults who had a parent working in agriculture.MethodDuring the summer of 2020, while California was under SIP orders, we conducted three virtual focus groups using Zoom(r). We recruited focus group participants from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS), an ongoing, 20-year, longitudinal cohort study of Mexican-origin families in a predominantly agricultural area of California. Three focus groups were conducted with mothers (n = 9), mean age = 48 years, young adult women (n = 8) and young adult men (n = 5), mean age = 18 years, respectively.ResultsMothers reported high levels of stress stemming from fear of Covid-19 infection, work instability and financial concerns, children’s schooling, anxiety about an uncertain future, and the demands of caretaking for dependents. Adverse mental health impacts were particularly pronounced among participants experiencing multiple adversities pre-dating the pandemic, including unemployment, single motherhood, and having undocumented family members. For young adults, work instability and varying work hours were also a source of stress because they made it difficult to make decisions about the future, such as whether to attend college or how many classes to take. Families used coping strategies including expressing gratitude, focusing on what’s under one’s control, familismo, and community engagement to manage mental health challenges during SIP.ConclusionIn the event of future pandemics or disasters, particular attention is needed to those who experience unemployment, are undocumented and/or have undocumented family members, and/or are single parents facing economic adversity. During public health emergencies, action at the local, state, and national level is needed to support farmworkers and other vulnerable groups’ secondary major stressors stemming from inequities in access to affordable housing, childcare, living wages, healthcare, and other benefits.

Farm Labor Shortage in the Pennsylvania Mushroom Industry: A Gender‐Sensitive Comparison of Farmer and Farmworker Perspectives☆

AbstractU.S. farmers are facing a widespread labor shortage. Previous literature on the causes, mostly written by agricultural economists, has focused on the macro‐economic and political factors that have reduced the traditional agricultural labor supply from rural Latin America. In this article, we present a sociological approach that probes the settlement of immigrant farmworkers in rural communities and their associated family responsibilities as possible contributing factors to the farm labor shortage. We conducted online questionnaires with 23 mushroom farm and packing plant representatives and structured interviews with 105 women and men workers in the Pennsylvania mushroom industry. Our findings suggest that if compensation and scheduling were more amenable to raising families, the labor shortage would be less acute. Moreover, workers, particularly women, identified the need for more respectful treatment by their supervisors. We conclude that, while farm employers are taking measures to address these concerns, their efforts do not fully address the economic conditions and sense of disrespectful treatment that may contribute to the labor shortage. As a result, farm employers feel forced to turn to labor contracting services, whose practices may exacerbate the vulnerability of mushroom workers.

Access Barriers, Trusted Channels, and Misconceptions About the COVID-19 Vaccine Among Rural Immigrant Farmworkers.

Background: Although COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted immigrant agricultural workers, vaccination efforts have been challenging. Barriers to immunization include language, visa status, and access to medical care. Additionally, vaccine hesitancy, mistrust, and misinformation contributed to low uptake. Methods: A community needs assessment was conducted with immigrant agricultural workers (n = 9) and community stakeholders (n = 15) in rural areas of Maryland and Delaware. In-depth interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using template analysis. Results: The participants named trusted and untrusted sources, sources of misinformation, and barriers to accessing information and physical locations to receive the vaccine as reasons for not getting the vaccine. Trusted sources included known community leaders and television programs. Some barriers mentioned were fear of deportation, lack of paid time off, language barriers, and difficulty navigating the U.S. healthcare system. Discussion: There is a need for culturally-tailored programs that address misinformation and barriers and use community-based programming.

Developing Components of an Integrated mHealth Dietary Intervention for Mexican Immigrant Farmworkers: Feasibility Study of a Food Photography Protocol for Dietary Assessment. (Preprint)

Developing Components of an Integrated mHealth Dietary Intervention for Mexican Immigrant Farmworkers: Feasibility Study of a Food Photography Protocol for Dietary Assessment. (Preprint)

Immigrant Farmworker Youth's Right to Aspire: A Review of Two Films

Immigrant Farmworker Youth's Right to Aspire: A Review of Two Films

CDC-Supported National Network of Farmworker-Serving Organizations to Mitigate COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has partnered with the National Center for Farmworker Health to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on US farmworker communities. Immigrant farmworkers are often isolated from public health infrastructure. This partnership built the capacity of a national network of organizations to connect farmworkers to COVID-19 education and vaccinations in 20 states through training and resource sharing. The partnership funded 194 network member staff, trained 1130 individuals, and supported COVID-19 outreach to more than 600 000 farmworkers. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(2):166-169. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307159).

From Invisible to Structural Power to Address Immigrant Farmworkers’ Challenges Through New Assemblages in the U.S. Dairy Industry

Latinx immigrant workers on U.S. dairy farms experience multiple challenges. During recent decades, a myriad of stakeholders from the civil society and the food system have worked together to address struggles experienced by immigrant farmworkers and other marginalized groups. Meanwhile, assemblage and governance perspectives have gained the attention of scholars and practitioners addressing power relations and social challenges in the food system. Based on interviews with members of an immigrant organization in Vermont, this study examines how Latinx immigrant farmworkers and their allies created and leveraged opportunities to transform relations of power and address needs and problems through the creation of new assemblages. Results show how members of this organization were able to exercise and transform different forms of power. The construction of new social relationships and assemblages enabled Latinx immigrant farmworkers to transform invisible power into hidden and visible power, leading to structural changes, such as the creation of the first fair food program in the U.S. dairy industry.

The dynamics of coping, positive emotions, and well-being: Evidence from Latin American immigrant farmworkers and college students during a time of political strife.

In the present article, we use daily diary methodology to investigate how coping influences well-being via the engagement of positive emotions in immigrant farmworkers and university students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In Study 1, in a sample of Latinx immigrant farmworkers (N = 76), we found that the daily use of adaptive coping strategies predicted greater daily well-being, and that this relationship was accounted for by greater daily experiences of positive emotions. In Study 2, in a sample of college students from Latinx, Asian, and European American backgrounds (N = 336), we replicated the mediating effect of positive emotionality on the effect of adaptive coping on daily well-being and extended these findings to an examination of longitudinal well-being. This work provides evidence of one mechanism by which coping affects well-being and is one of the first studies of these dynamics in Latinx samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing the Extreme Loneliness of Immigrant Farmworkers

Immigrant farmworkers in the United States are a vulnerable population who often face uncertain legal standing, fewer financial and health‐related resources, and higher exposure to work hazards. This article focuses on the loneliness—the subjective experience of social isolation—of immigrant farmworker communities, analyzes the social patterning of loneliness in this population, and estimates its association with self‐rated health. Data come from interviews with immigrant farmworkers (N = 260) at two sites in the rural Southeast. Immigrant farmworkers report substantially high levels of loneliness and appear to be lonelier than the levels found in a diverse range of other published studies of adults. Older women immigrant farmworkers, those with no formal schooling, and farmworkers experiencing food insecurity are especially lonely, and they stand to benefit most from social service outreach. However, the association between loneliness and self‐rated health is relatively weak.

A Narrative Review of Occupational Air Pollution and Respiratory Health in Farmworkers.

The agricultural crop sector in the United States depends on migrant, seasonal, and immigrant farmworkers. As an ethnic minority group in the U.S. with little access to health care and a high level of poverty, farmworkers face a combination of adverse living and workplace conditions, such as exposure to high levels of air pollution, that can place them at a higher risk for adverse health outcomes including respiratory infections. This narrative review summarizes peer-reviewed original epidemiology research articles (2000–2020) focused on respirable dust exposures in the workplace and respiratory illnesses among farmworkers. We found studies (n = 12) that assessed both air pollution and respiratory illnesses in farmworkers. Results showed that various air pollutants and respiratory illnesses have been assessed using appropriate methods (e.g., personal filter samplers and spirometry) and a consistent pattern of increased respiratory illness in relation to agricultural dust exposure. There were several gaps in the literature; most notably, no study coupled occupational air exposure and respiratory infection among migrant, seasonal and immigrant farmworkers in the United States. This review provides an important update to the literature regarding recent epidemiological findings on the links between occupational air pollution exposures and respiratory health among vulnerable farmworker populations.

Ensuring COVID-19 Vaccines for Migrant and Immigrant Farmworkers.

.Migrant and immigrant farmworkers are cornerstones to food security and production in many nations. In the United States, farmworkers have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Because they are considered essential workers, vaccines may be made imminently available to them and offer an opportunity to reduce these COVID-19–related impacts. It is essential for a successful vaccination campaign to address the unique challenges arising from this workforce’s inherently mobile nature and limited access to healthcare. Proposed strategies to overcome these challenges include ensuring farmworkers are prioritized in vaccine allocation and provided cost-free vaccines at convenient locations through partnerships among health authorities, community- and faith-based groups, and health centers with trusted community relationships. Further, a portable immunization record should be used, and coordination of care continued when a farmworker moves to a new geographic location. If implemented well, vaccinating farmworkers can reduce the COVID-19 disease burden among these essential workers, improve public health, and protect food and agriculture production.

Harvesting Health Knowledge: Breast Cancer Perceptions in the South Florida Latinx Farmworker Community.

South Florida agricultural regions, home to Latinx immigrant farmworkers, report higher rates of late-stage breast cancer diagnosis than national, state, and county-level averages. We conducted a community-based qualitative study on the needs, health knowledge gaps, barriers to breast cancer screening, and the role of community health workers (CHWs) in supporting the community's access to early detection services. We conducted three CHW focus groups (FGs) (n = 25) and in-depth interviews (n = 15), two FGs (n = 18) and in-depth interviews (n = 3) with farmworker community members, and informal interviews with cancer clinicians (n = 7). Using a grounded theory approach, five core themes regarding the community's barriers to accessing health care services emerged: (a) lack of information; (b) social and economic barriers; (c) cultural factors; (d) fears and mistrust; and (e) psychosocial concerns. Findings yield implications for community health practice, the potential impact of CHWs, and the production of breast cancer education to improve health equity along with the care continuum.

The relations of workplace safety, perceived occupational stress, and adjustment among Latino/a immigrant cattle feedyard workers in the United States

Immigrant workers face significant occupational health and safety concerns and are often employed in dangerous, dirty, and demanding (3-D) jobs such as agriculture. To foster improvements in immigrant farmworker health, integrative research that explores workplace safety, stress, and health and safety outcomes is needed. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine workplace safety characteristics and perceived stressors as predictors of Latino/a immigrant cattle feedyard workers’ psychosocial adjustment. Data were from the “Health and Safety among Immigrant Cattle Feedyard Workers in the Central States Region” project, and participants included 243 Latino/a immigrant cattle feedyard workers from Kansas and Nebraska (M age = 37.68, SD = 10.10; 91.2% male). A path model including direct and indirect relations among the number of personal protective equipment and training types, safety climate, occupational stress, and adjustment outcomes (depression, anxiety, need for recovery, and life satisfaction) was examined. We found that the number of types of personal protective equipment and training positively predicted safety climate, which negatively predicted occupational stress. In turn, occupational stress was positively associated with depression, anxiety, and need for recovery, and negatively associated with life satisfaction. The present findings support the notion that workplace safety is directly associated with the health and well-being of immigrant workers and delineates the mechanisms by which workplace safety characteristics relate to workers’ adjustment. This study yields supportive evidence for an ecological stress-based model of immigrant worker health and safety in U.S. Latino/a cattle feedyard workers. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Immigration Status and Farmwork: Understanding the Wage and Income Gap Across U.S. Policy and Economic Eras, 1989–2016

An estimated 7.8 million people live and work in the United States without authorized status. We examined the extent to which legal status makes them vulnerable to employment discrimination despite technically being protected under labor laws. We used three decades of data from the nationally representative National Agricultural Workers Survey, which provides four categories of self-reported legal status. We first investigated how legal status affected the wages and income of Mexican immigrant farmworkers using linear regression analyses. Then, we used Blinder-Oaxaca models to decompose the wage and income gap across the 1989 to 2016 period, categorized into five eras. Unauthorized farmworkers earned significantly lower wages and income compared to those with citizen status, though the gap narrowed over time. Approximately 57% of the wage gap across the entire period was unexplained by compositional characteristics. While the unauthorized/citizen wage gap narrowed across eras, the unexplained proportion increased substantially—from approximately 52% to 93%. That the unexplained proportion expanded during eras with increased immigration enforcement and greater migrant selectivity supports claims that unauthorized status functions as a defining social position. This evidence points to the need for immigration reform that better supports fair labor practices for immigrants.

Supplemental Material for The Dynamics of Coping, Positive Emotions, and Well-Being: Evidence From Latin American Immigrant Farmworkers and College Students During a Time of Political Strife

Supplemental Material for The Dynamics of Coping, Positive Emotions, and Well-Being: Evidence From Latin American Immigrant Farmworkers and College Students During a Time of Political Strife

Developing the Juramento into an Evidence-Based Brief Intervention: A Brief Report.

This brief report recommends how the effectiveness of the juramento, a practice found in Mexican Catholicism, can be enhanced by combining it with Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. The juramento is a grassroots intervention around a sacred pledge made to Our Lady of Guadalupe to abstain from alcohol from 6 months to 1 year. The recommendations are made possible from an ongoing qualitative study on the use of the juramento among Mexican immigrant farmworkers in southeastern Pennsylvania. The subsample for this report is 15 Mexican immigrant farmworkers who made a juramento and two priests who administer the intervention. Adding the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and a referral to treatment in the counseling session of the juramento keeps its religious and cultural appeal. The core of the intervention-the ritualized pledge to Our Lady of Guadalupe-remains intact. Approaching the juramento with an evidence-based brief intervention lens will expand the availability of culturally based interventions to include a grassroots intervention in the Mexican immigrant community. The juramento is organic, rooted in culture and religion, making it more likely that it will help in reducing alcohol use disorders, especially those with strong religiosity.

Agri-Food Land Transformations and Immigrant Farm Workers in Peri-Urban Areas of Spain and the Mediterranean

Spain is a global hotspot of transformations of agri-food land systems due to changing production intensity, diets, urbanization, market integration, and climate change. Characteristic of the Mediterranean, these expanding intersections with the migration, livelihoods, and food security strategies of immigrant farm workers urge new research into the “who,” “how,” and “why” questions of the transformation of agri-food land systems. Addressing this gap, we communicate preliminary results from field research in the Granada and Madrid areas. We use a novel conceptual framework of linkages among distinct agri-food land systems and the roles and agency of immigrant farm workers. Preliminary results integrating a combined land- and labor-centric approach address: (1) how the recent and ongoing transformations of specific agri-food land systems are indicative of close links to inexpensive, flexible labor of immigrant farm workers; (2) how the connectivity among transformations of multiple distinct agri-food land systems can be related to the geographic mobility of immigrant farm workers and livelihoods (non-farm work, gendered employment, peri-urban residential location, labor recruitment); and (3) how the struggles for food and nutrition security among immigrant farm workers are indicative of links to local sites and networked agrobiodiversity. This study can help advance the nexus of migration-land research with expanding ethical, justice, and policy concerns of land system sciences in relation to the new suite of agri-food interest and initiatives.