VLS Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic Goals Teaching goals: Litigation - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Agricultural Exceptionalism U.S. I m m i g r a t i o n R e f o r m C o n f e re n c e F r i d a y, M a y 2 8 , 2 0 1 0 B e t h Ly o n

VLS Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic Goals  Teaching goals:  Litigation and legal case management  Client-centered lawyering  Role of race and ethnicity in subordination  Bi-/multi-lingual lawyering (interpreter internship program)  Role of lawyers in social change and access to justice  Unique workforce challenges in agricultural industry  Service Goals:  Individual representation for members of underserved community  Know-your-rights outreach to underserved community

Waged Agricultural Work: World Overview  40% the world’s workers are in agriculture  30% of agricultural workers are waged employees  Over 70 per cent of child labor is in agriculture. Some 132 million children under 15 years of age work on farms and plantations worldwide  Agriculture is the third most dangerous industry

United States Overview  2.5 million agricultural workers in the United States  99% are racial minorities  50-75% are undocumented immigrants  21% are women

Slavery and Debt Peonage as Agricultural Worker Policies  “Land abundance dictated slavery”: export model  The “vast majority” of slaves brought to the United States worked on plantations: cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice  Key role of Chinese migrants in California agriculture  New Deal Era: 85% of agricultural and domestic workers were African American  Agrarian ethos

Farmworker Protections (approx. %) as Compared with Other Industries 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Current Farmworker Protections (approx. %) with Unauthorized Worker Exclusions 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Lack of Enforcement, Lack of Support for Families

Immigration Policy as Agricultural Workforce Policy  Bracero program  “H2-A” Program  51,000 in 2007  Employer-tied  Excluded from basic farmworker protections

International Ag. Labor Exceptionalism  ILO Agricultural Worker Health and Safety Convention  Did not participate in latest ILO consultation and fora on Decent Work in Agriculture  Did not participate in IACHR litigation on undocumented worker rights  Has not signed or ratified the UN Migrant Worker Convention  Has not acceded to ILO Migrant Worker Conventions  Has not implemented NAALC rulings for farmworkers in domestic courts

Fundamental ILO Conventions Compared with ILO Migrant Worker & Ag. Conventions 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Fundamental, Agricultural & Migrant Worker ILO Conventions: Two U.S. Ratifications 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Recent and Ongoing Change Efforts  Immigration Amnesty and “AgJobs” Bill  Increased enforcement  Hazardous child work regulations  Increased funding and innovation to combat trafficking  NAALC litigation on right to counsel  Binational networks: Portability of Justice and Labor Citizenship

Proposal: Comparative Indices  Agricultural Labor Exploitation Index  Foreign Labor Exploitation Index  Problematize northern failure to manage labor migration  Problematize agricultural worker rights exclusions and lax enforcement  Challenge Northern-biased index culture