A Cesar Chavez button is seen in El Paso, Texas, during a celebration of the civil rights leader on March 31, 2000. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Hulton Archive hide caption
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farmworkers
Paola Mendoza, the daughter of farmworkers, says her parents didn't want her to join them in the fields. She's now in college, studying to be a teacher. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption
As these farmworkers' children seek a different future, farms look for workers abroad
A worker harvests cherries in the early hours of the morning on a farm near Sunnyside, Wash., on June 14. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption
America's farms are desperate for labor. Foreign workers bring relief and controversy
Jose Martinez was 14 when he came to the U.S. from Mexico to work in agriculture. He became an activist after years of enduring tough working conditions. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption
They put food on our tables but live in the shadows. This man is fighting to be seen
Patricia Mendoza says she was happy when she first heard that farmworkers would be eligible for overtime. She didn't anticipate that she would lose hours as a result of the new law. Mike Kane for NPR hide caption
These farmworkers thought a new overtime law would help them. Now, they want it gone
Farm workers fill up bins in the back of a truck with zucchini on a farm in Florida City, Florida, in 2020. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Children as young as 12 work legally on farms, despite years of efforts to change law
Farm laborers working with an H-2A visa harvest romaine lettuce on a machine with heavy plastic dividers that separate workers from each other on April 27, 2020, in Greenfield, Calif. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
Before conducting the nasal swab test for COVID-19 at the Rantoul, Ill., clinic, researchers go out to greet each visitor and ask for basic identification and health information. Christine Herman/Illinois Public Media hide caption
To Help Farmworkers Get COVID-19 Tests And Vaccine, Build Trust And A Safety Net
Before massive wildfires broke out in California, farmworkers already had to take extra precautions for COVID-19. Now they must worry about dangerous air from wildfires. In this photo, farmworkers arrive early in the morning to begin harvesting on April 28 in Greenfield, Calif. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
Wildfires Make Dangerous Air For Farmworkers: 'It's Like You Can't Breathe'
Fresh asparagus has been gathered in Bottrop, Germany, in mid-April. Farms across Europe are facing a labor shortage as a result of closed borders because of the coronavirus pandemic. Martin Meissner/AP hide caption
A Senegalese migrant collects oranges on the plain of Rosarno and San Ferdinando in Calabria, Italy, on Feb. 6. The lockdown countries imposed to stop the coronavirus pandemic have cut off the usual flow of seasonal farmworkers. Alfonso Di Vicenzo/LightRocket via Getty hide caption
Italy Considers Permits For Undocumented Migrants To Fill A Big Farmworker Gap
Farmworkers pick organic strawberries at Stehly Farms Organics in Valley Center, Calif., on March 25. Ariana Drehsler/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Outside of risks from the fire's heat — and any health risks related to a long-term power outage — the main health concern in wildfire conditions is smoke, which produces particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases and asthma, as well as heart problems. Anna Maria Barry-Jester/KHN hide caption
Workers pull out cosmetically defective garlic (that will be processed separately) at the Christopher Ranch processing plant in Gilroy, Calif. About 6 percent of its garlic is bought from China; the rest is homegrown. Talia Herman for NPR hide caption
In Garlic Capital, Tariffs And Immigration Crackdown Have Mixed Impacts
Arleene Correa Valencia works on a painting in her latest series: In Times of Crisis, En Tiempo de Crisis. Rachael Bongiorno for NPR hide caption
After The Wildfires: Artist Captures Plight Of Napa's Undocumented Workers
San Diego high school students await a bus ride to Blythe, Calif., to go pick cantaloupes in the summer of 1965. They were recruited as part of the A-TEAM, a government program to replace migrant farm workers with high school students. Courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune hide caption
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents take fingerprints while processing apprehended immigration fugitives inside the ICE staging facility in Los Angeles on April 18, 2017. Earlier this year ICE agents searching for an undocumented farmworker stopped his brother and sister-in-law. The couple sped off, crashed their car and died. Brian van der Brug/LA Times via Getty Images hide caption
Farmworkers In California Fearful After Immigrant Couple Dies While Fleeing ICE
Researchers point to a number of causes for dwindling farmworkers: tighter border controls; higher prices charged by smugglers; well-paying construction jobs and a growing middle-class in Mexico that doesn't want to pick vegetables for Americans. Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Luis Guerrero fills barrels with crushed grapes at Valley of the Moon winery in Sonoma, Calif., Oct 16, 2017. Guerrero says he's struggling to pay for rent after the wildfires forced the winery to close. Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED hide caption
California Wildfires Leave Seasonal Agricultural Workers In Limbo
As in the rest of the country, growers in heavily agricultural northern Michigan rely overwhelmingly on migrant laborers to work the fields and orchards. Most of the pickers are from Mexico. Growers say it's just about impossible to find Americans to do this work. Melissa Block/NPR hide caption
'They're Scared': Immigration Fears Exacerbate Migrant Farmworker Shortage
United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta at the Delano grape workers strike in Delano, Calif., 1966. The strike set in motion the modern farmworkers movement. Jon Lewis/Courtesy of LeRoy Chatfield hide caption
Mexican farmworkers harvest lettuce in a field outside of Brawley, Calif. Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
The family-owned Wholesum Harvest had to meet a checklist of more than 300 standards — including many worker protections — to become the first American farm certified by Fair Trade USA. Workers at its Nogales, Ariz., tomato farm recently received a check for more than $30,000 — workers will collectively decide how to spend it. Courtesy of Wholesum Harvest hide caption
Dairy operations run 24/7, but federal law excludes its workers from overtime pay. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption