Farmworker Awareness Week March 24-31, 2013.

Another challenge facing migrant workers is . . . 

SEPARATION OF FAMILIES

MONDAY MARCH 25

“Most farmworkers are married and/or have children; yet almost six out of ten farmworkers live apart from their immediate family members.” (http://saf-unite.org/content/united-states-farmworker-factsheet).

Because agriculture is one of the most dangerous and lowest-paying occupations in the United States, the U.S. agricultural industry cannot recruit citizens to fill much-needed jobs. Rather than improve wages and conditions in the fields, the industry recruits workers abroad where there are more laborers, fewer jobs, and much lower wages. Workers are also lured to labor on United States farms by the promise of a better life for themselves or their children: the “American Dream.” Many people in developing countries face extreme poverty, lack of jobs, natural disasters, armed conflict, and civil unrest. As economic refugees, many immigrant farmworkers have made the difficult decision to leave their homes and families in search of new possibilities in the United States.

Click here to see a video about Separation of Families.

Take action to support migrant families:
http://www.migrantstudents.org/chavezchallenge2013.html