The 5 Top Things To Know About Immigrant Farmworkers and America's Food Production

- 73% of US agricultural workers are immigrants, represented across all 50 states. Incidentally, California is the #1 state in agriculture production. By far. Can you guess state #2? Hint: It’s vowels are all in “California”. The answer is Iowa.
- Farms are facing a dire shortage of farmworkers. In California, 56% of farms are short staffed. COVID has only exacerbated this problem.
- About half of farmworkers are undocumented, but need to be legalized – for the benefit of them, their farms, and the American food-eating public.
- Temporary H-2A visas are insufficient. Only 4% of agricultural workers have one. California is one of the top H-2A states.
- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that giving legal status to undocumented farmworkers would boost tax revenues and have a net positive effect on the federal budget.
See more detail
Learn how FIELD helps undocumented farmworkers