Migrant farmworkers are individuals who are required to be absent from a permanent place of residence for the purpose of seeking remunerated employment in agricultural work. They work temporarily or seasonally in farm fields, orchards, canneries, plant nurseries, fish/seafood packing plants, and more. Migrant farmworkers make up an estimated 73% of agriculture workers in the United States. They are also called migratory agricultural workers or mobile workers.
The work of migrant farmworkers is essential to Americas food production. They help plant, cultivate, and harvest crops, and their labor is critical to the agriculture industry. However, the agriculture industry faces a chronic labor shortage that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Employment Services in Washington, D.C. provides the same range of services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers as are provided to non-migrant and non-seasonal farmworkers. The American Job Center delivers all workforce development-related services, benefits, and protections, career guidance/counseling, testing, job development, job training, and referral services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers on an equitable and non-discriminatory basis.
The critical importance of farmworkers, including those who are undocumented, has never been clearer. Modernizing the temporary visa program, and establishing a pathway to citizenship for long-term undocumented agricultural workers, is urgently needed to protect farmworkers and their families and ensure the future of America’s essential agriculture industry.
