When the United States first established the H-2A visa program, it aimed to provide a legal mechanism for agricultural employers to recruit seasonal workers only if no qualified domestic laborers could be found. Over time; however, the system’s structural weaknesses, most notably its requirement that workers remain tied to a single employer, have allowed a web of exploitation to flourish. As a result, far too many migrant laborers end up vulnerable to abusive recruiters, dangerous work environments, and crippling debt.
Many H-2A workers report paying thousands of dollars to recruiters in their home countries solely for the opportunity to work in the U.S. In some cases, these fees exceed $5,000, forcing workers and their families into high-interest loans or forcing them to risk losing everything they own. Once they arrive, they discover that the wage they were promised is often siphoned away by employers through undocumented charges for housing, tools, visas, transportation, or even mandatory meal plans that are overpriced or spoil easily, leaving workers with little to show for grueling hours in the fields.
The farm labor contractor model compounds these issues. Many growers use intermediaries, often referred to as farm labor contractors (FLCs), to hire and transport workers, particularly in states such as California, Florida, and Georgia, which experience significant labor demand. These FLCs are responsible for nearly half of all wage and hour violations affecting H-2A laborers, with cases often involving dozens of workers per violation and larger underpayments than those of non-contractor employers. As a result, workers frequently find themselves paid far less than their legal entitlements, often becoming victims of recruitment scams and paycheck theft.
Oversight by the U.S. Department of Labor remains woefully inadequate. Investigations occur in less than 1% of agricultural worksites in any given year, yet 70% of those inspected exhibit serious labor violations. The Wage and Hour Division has seen minimal increases in staff or funding since 2006, even though H‑2A visa usage has surged more than 500%. During the COVID‑19 pandemic, enforcement plunged further as in-person investigations were almost entirely suspended.
The most chilling example of these systemic failures is “Operation Blooming Onion” in Georgia. Beginning around 2015, a criminal enterprise coordinated by labor contractors manipulated the H‑2A system to traffic migrant workers. The workers were isolated in electrified camps, forced to dig onions by hand for mere cents per bucket, threatened with violence, denied access to water and medical care, and, in at least two cases, died from heat exposure. The workers endured arbitrary violence, with reports of rape and kidnap kidnapping. In 2021, federal authorities indicted 24 individuals for crimes including forced labor, money laundering, and witness tampering, marking one of the most significant forced-labor interventions in U.S. agricultural history.
Despite the horrifying nature of those crimes, they are not isolated. Investigations have revealed that up to 100% of H‑2A workers interviewed report at least one serious rights violation, and 94% report three or more. In North Carolina, a survey of 400 H‑2A laborers revealed that nearly 25% had experienced intimidation and around 18% described conditions they labeled “trafficking,” including substandard housing, withheld meals, and insufficient work hours that made meeting daily living costs impossible. A federal lawsuit in Connecticut alleges that workers were forced to take unpaid leave, stay in overcrowded housing, and lie to federal investigators, all under threats of deportation.
Workers typically remain powerless to defend themselves. They fear deportation, blacklisting, retaliation, or not being rehired the following season. Since their visas are tied exclusively to their employer, the act of leaving, regardless of the reason, can result in them losing their legal status in the United States. This dynamic silences many from reporting abuse and erodes any leverage they might otherwise possess.
Recognizing these injustices, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized new regulations in April 2024 aimed at bolstering protections for H-2A workers. These reforms include anti-retaliation safeguards, strengthened anti-trafficking provisions (such as banning employers from seizing passports), required transparency in recruitment contracts, mandatory seatbelt use in transport vans, and more explicit rules on termination “for cause.” These measures will be implemented gradually, with full compliance required for applications submitted after August 29, 2024.
Yet regulatory change is only part of the solution. Advocates stress that without robust enforcement, accountability for recruiters, and independent oversight of contractors, the abuses exposed in Georgia and elsewhere will persist. A coalition of labor, immigrant, and civil rights groups, including the United Farm Workers and Polaris, urges Congress and the executive branch to demand thorough audits, increased funding for labor inspectors, and structural reforms that enable workers to change employers without jeopardizing their legal status.
The H‑2A guest-worker program, while essential for U.S. agriculture, contains built-in vulnerabilities that have enabled labor abuses that shock the conscience, debt bondage, wage theft, unsafe working and living conditions, and even trafficking. The momentum for reform now exists. But real change will only arrive if America enforces its promises, amplifies workers’ voices, and confronts the systemic inequities that have persisted far too long.
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