Vulnerabilities and Empowerment of the H-2A Visa Migrant Guestworkers in California's Agricultural Industry

• In Event: 4151 - International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 12: Immigrant Workers and the Labor Market II

Abstract

To what extent does a new regime of employment, such as the H-2A visa guestworkers program, result in key contradictions in terms of vulnerabilities and empowerment for mestizo and indígena migrants coming from Mexico to work in the US agricultural sector on a short-term contractual basis? How is this program similar to and/or different from the Bracero program (1942–1964)? These short-term work contracts create unpredictability and precarity for the migrant workers. This paper examines forms of vulnerabilities, both structural violence (the H-2A visa program does not provide the protection of citizenship and immigration status, unfriendliness to unions, implicitly constrains grievances/protests because workers do want to renew their visas for the next season), and symbolic violence (such as continuing to work even when they are sick, willing to work night or day given short notice). Moreover, this paper shows new forms of empowerment, such as the use of third space, the reversal of race/class social hierarchy and rural/urban divide, the use of indigena languages and potentials of mobilizing via unions. We conducted fieldwork, using engaged/modern ethnography to arrive at the findings, exploring how these guestworkers empower themselves by not only resisting their exploitation in formal and informal ways, but also benefiting from this system. We have interviewed all relevant stakeholders, including the H-2A workers from Mexico, including the mestizos (those with mixed European and indigenous ancestries and cultures) and members of ethnic minorities (such as the Nahuas), the growers and their labor contractors, recruitment companies, United Farm Workers representatives and some labor advocates. Using engaged ethnography, we have incorporated workers’ concerns into the research design and implementation of this project, such as updating our interview questions and engaging in participant observation in their weekend activities. We also utilized archival materials in two languages, English and Spanish, for historical contexts, statistics, and local and expert insights from the sending country: Mexico.

Authors

• Angie Ngoc Tran, California State University, Monterey Bay

• Lorenzo Covarrubias, CSU Monterey Bay