Help ensure your produce is slavery-free
By Herrana Addisu, From Freedom United
| When was the last time you ate an avocado? How about olives? Peaches? Almond products? Did you know to you that you might be consuming produce that was grown using forced labor? If you are in the US, it’s almost certain these products were grown in California which provides over 99% of a variety of crops including peaches, raisins, olives, and avocados.[1] And this is reflected internationally, over a quarter of California’s produce is exported,and it grows over 80% of the world’s almonds.[2] Chances are you have consumed produce from California at some point. People growing your food may be trafficked and forced to work under the threat of deportation or violence inflicted on themselves or their families. |
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| But human trafficking for labor exploitation is not only a risk for migrant workers in the farming sector. Migrant workers in other sectors in California, including factories, fairgrounds, and restaurants are also at risk.[3] The current law in California only protects workers from trafficking on a limited visa type. This error has created a loophole that allows for thousands of workers to be exploited and tricked into slavery. This goes deeper than the produce we consume, it is an error that is causing many to live in fear with no escape. California attracts more temporary foreign workers than anywhere else in the US. As the fifth largest global economy, workers on lawful visas from all over the world seek opportunities in California.[4] The large economy attracts a high demand for cheap labor creating the conditions that leave some migrant workers at risk of being trafficked into forced labor. The full scope of the problem is unknown as workers rarely report labor abuses for fear of losing their jobs and immigration status.[5] |
Most temporary workers are recruited via third-party foreign labor contractors (FLCs), some of whom act neither lawfully nor ethically. These FLCs take advantage of the desperation of low-income workers to increase their profits by charging high fees and deceiving them into exploitative work conditions.
Once in the US, workers are bound to a single employer and are dependent on them for housing, food, and visas. Employers can take advantage of this power imbalance to abuse their workers—and because FLCs act as brokers between employer and worker,employers bear little responsibility for any wrongdoing.
Felipe is just one worker who was exploited by an FLC and became trapped in forced labor.
Felipe was promised $10,000 by an FLC to work for a season on a farm near Bakersfield, CA. He paid over $2500 in fees for visa and transportation that was to be reimbursed. But when he got there, his visa was confiscated and he was not reimbursed—in fact, he was not paid at all for three months. After enduring months of forced labor and beating, Felipe overstayed his visa to earn more money at the FLC’s request, but is now being kept under fear of deportation. He has been in the US four years and fears he will die there.[6]
California state legislators tried to protect people like Felipe in 2014 by passing Senate Bill 477 (SB477).[7]
The bill requires that all FLCs register and that California employers only use registered FLCs to recruit temporary workers. Under the bill, FLCs must give full and honest disclosure of terms and conditions in the recruiting process—including charging no fees. Both employers and FLCs face penalties for failure to comply.
But when the bill became law, an error in the way it was incorporated into existing legal provisions for farm worker meant it failed in its goals. The new law allows for an interpretation that would limit the law to protect only around 3% of migrant workers.
SB477 leaves thousands of workers in California, especially agricultural workers, at high risk of exploitation.[8]
We cannot stand by while the workers growing our produce are exploited.
Our partners at the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) have been lobbying for the small legislative change that would be needed to fix the bill and ensure it applies to ALL temporary workers. While simple, the amendment has faced opposition from industry lobbyists who stand to gain from the loophole.[9]
Join us in calling on the California State Legislature to amend Senate Bill 477 to protect all migrant workers, regardless of visa or industry, from forced labor and human trafficking.
Sign the petition and urge California to ensure its produce is slavery-free.
In solidarity,
Herrana and the Freedom United team
[1] https://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/27/california-farms-produce-a-lot-of-food-but-what-and-how-much-might-surprise-you/
[2] https://www.almonds.com/sites/default/files/2016_almond_industry_factsheet.pdf
[3] https://cdmigrante.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Recruitment_Revealed.pdf
[4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/05/california-now-worlds-5th-largest-economy-beating-out-uk/583508002/
[5] https://civileats.com/2019/07/16/the-h-2a-guest-worker-program-has-ballooned-in-size-but-both-farmers-and-workers-want-it-fixed/
[6] https://www.castla.org/human-trafficking/policy/#agendas
[7] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB477
[8] https://prospect.org/labor/close-to-slavery-legalization-undocumented-farmworkers/
[9] https://www.castla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/CASTSB477Fix1-2018final.pdf
