U.S. Department of Labor suspends farm labor survey

The Donald Trump administration canceled the farmworker survey that provided insight into their situation and helped implement public policies for this essential sector.

The cancellation of the survey, which had been conducted for 30 years, provided a comprehensive overview of the current situation in the fields and among workers. Sophia Rerucha, a student at San Francisco State University and reporter for Radio Bilingüe, reports on this impact.

In early September, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it planned to discontinue the National Farmworker Survey. This survey collected data on working conditions, health, and demographics through interviews with workers in the fields.

The survey had been conducted under the supervision of experts since 1988. It had an impact on agricultural labor policies, as the information it yielded was useful for understanding who farmworkers really are and what challenges and needs they face.

Eduardo Kissam, a researcher on immigration issues in the United States, used the data from this survey to give farmworkers a voice in national policymaking.

“I think it’s extremely important to have the National Agricultural Workers Survey because it’s a way to bring the voices of farmworkers and their families to the politicians who make decisions on many issues that affect their own migrants, farmworkers, and the entire nation.”

For Rick Mines, who worked on the survey between 1988 and 1999, it has been a very valuable tool. He says the government hasn’t given a clear reason for eliminating it.

“They probably want to create their own data, for nothing, so they can make their policies haphazardly, however they want. But if they want to do something serious, based on the real world, they have to have information on ages, marital status, how many years they’ve been here, how much rent they pay, and how they’re treated in the fields. The health service is going to have a lot of problems if they don’t have data. So it’s a major loss for the country, and above all, for the communities of employers and consumers in the agricultural sector as well.”

From San Rafael, California, Eduardo Kissam is very concerned about the cancellation of the survey, as it provides a complete view of farmers. Without it, he fears that President Donald Trump’s administration will continue its attack on data, as it did in August when it fired Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“It seems to me that, in general, the current Trump administration’s policy is focused on erasing the current facts of the real world and replacing them with various mythologies, such as that Mexican migrants are criminals and that they take services without working. It’s an assault on many fronts to try to erase information about the agricultural industry and the workers who support it.”

Eduardo and Rick have done immigration-related work for over 40 years, but never before have they been under such pressure as right now.

“We have never seen detention levels as high as we are experiencing now, and it will be important to see if the various modes of ICE detention have a negative impact on the agricultural industry’s ability to continue operating.”

For Rick, the current policy could seriously affect the agricultural industry.

“What will happen to this population if we don’t know what challenges they’re facing, what problems they’re facing, what problems they’re facing with regard to education, healthcare, policing, housing? If we don’t know this, they’ll have to guess. It’s purely anecdotal evidence of what’s happening, and there’s no opportunity to plan well without a good, comprehensive overview of what’s happening.”

Both say the next step is to write to the Department of Labor to continue the survey. They also recommend that people contact their representatives to support this cause and benefit their communities.

Many thanks to Sophia Rerucha, Radio Bilingüe reporter and San Francisco State University student, for this report.