Immigrant Agricultural Workers Critical To U.S. Food Security Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

KING CITY, CA - APRIL 28: Migrant farm laborers with Fresh Harvest working with an H-2A visa have their temperature checked and are asked questions about their health before boarding the bus to their shift, in the company living quarters on April 28, 2020 in King City, California. Good accommodations for farm labor is vital but difficult during the coronavirus pandemic. Fresh Harvest houses over 300 laborers in their self-contained King City facility. The laborers are given masks and gloves, and practice social distancing while inside. If anyone experiences health irregularities, they are immediately isolated in different housing and monitored at least twice a day. Medical care from the county is available if further symptoms develop. Accommodations are expensive and difficult to procure for farm labor. Many growers and packers use motels, houses that they purchase and warehouse-style housing. Fresh Harvest is the one of the largest employers of people using the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa for labor, harvesting and staffing in the United States. The company is implementing strict health and safety initiatives for their workers during the coronavirus pandemic and are trying a number of new techniques to enhance safety in the field as well as in work accommodations. Employees have their temperature taken daily and are also asked a series of questions about how they feel. Despite current record unemployment rates in the U.S. due to COVID-19-related layoffs, there have been few applications to do this kind of work despite extensive mandatory advertising by companies such as Fresh Harvest. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)