Migrant+worker+information


 * WHY THE UNITED STATES NEEDS **
 * MIGRANT FARM WORKERS **

Agriculture has become a highly mechanized industry in the U.S. today. Tractors pull plows to prepare fields for planting. Airplanes spray pesticides onto fields. Irrigation systems are run by automatic mechanisms. The great grain crops are harvested mechanically as are soybeans, cotton (except on small farms), and some vegetables and fruits.

However, machines have not been invented to replace human hands in harvesting and preparing for market many of the vegetables and fruits that are grown. For example, apples, asparagus, broccoli, cucumbers, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, peppers, strawberries, squash, and tomatoes are some of the crops that must still be picked by hand. Farms located in California supply 70% of the nation’s lettuce, 65% of the tomatoes, 92 % of the table grapes, 60% of the celery, and 55% of the strawberries. No one knows how many migrant workers travel through the country each year. Counting people who are constantly on the move is difficult. Estimates in 1994 put the number at 800,000 migrant workers nationally, not including children. Migrants of Latino descent make up over 70% of the workers. In the past, migrant workers included Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, and African American workers. Geography and economics are the main reason for the large number of Latino workers today. The U.S. shares a 2,000 mile border with Mexico. Some Mexicans believe that they will make a better living as farm workers than they would in their native country. __ Some more facts about migrant workers:  __ · The average life span of a migrant worker is 49 years, compared to 74 for the average American. · Very few migrant workers have medical insurance, Social Security, or unemployment insurance. · The infant and maternal death rate is 2 ½ times higher for migrant workers. · Preventable infections and diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia occur at a much higher rate among migrants than among the general population. · Pesticide poisoning is one of the most serious health problems. · Migrant workers are the poorest paid workers in America. · Housing conditions tend to be very poor. · Child labor is outlawed in every U.S. industry except agriculture. From the age of 14, children can work in the fields without restriction. With parental approval, children can work from age 12. · Over 50% of children of migrant farm workers will drop out of school before ninth grade. Only a little over 10% will finish high school. · Texas, Florida, and California are the home bases in the U.S. for about 90% of the migrant workers.

Source: __Dark Harvest: Migrant Farmworkers in America__ by Brent Ashabranner. Connecticut: Linnet Books, 1993.