H-2A Mexican Agricultural Guestworkers: Navigating Opportunities and Risks in California and Improving Quality of Life in Mexico

This grant is co-funded with the Carnegie Corporation.

The 10-month H-2A agricultural workers' contracts require them to work for one employer, at a specified job at a specific place, or risk losing their legal status and even being deported. They have no control over transportation, housing, and worksite conditions, yet workers continue to apply to work in California and return in subsequent seasons. Political economy and public policy expert Angie Ngọc Trần and sociocultural anthropologist Lorenzo Covarrubias will examine the strategies that transnational Mexican agricultural workers use to increase earnings and improve the quality of life for their families and communities in Mexico. They will conduct interviews and surveys for their study.