Immigrant food workers deserve a break.

• Author: Zepeda, Lydia
• Position: THE PROGRESSIVE MEDIA PROJECT - Brief article

Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are an integral part of U.S. agriculture. They work in food processing and slaughterhouses; they are milkers and cheesemakers; they prepare and serve food.

About 50 percent of all agricultural workers are undocumented while 19 percent are immigrants authorized to work.

Over and over again, I have heard farmers, business owners, and restaurant owners say they cannot find American workers willing to work as hard as immigrants (or for as little pay, they always forget to add). Why, then, do they not advocate for immigration reform?

The answer can be found by comparing the minimum wage for an agricultural worker on an H2A visa to the wages of undocumented workers who often do the same jobs. The median wage for crop farmworkers was $8.99 per hour in 2011, the most recent data. The H2Avisa sets the minimum...