A new study on undocumented immigrants and agriculture in the US claims that there will not be a secure food supply for the US until immigration reform is enacted by Congress, helping immigrant workers in the agriculture industry and their families to have legal rights.
The report, issued by the Center for a Livable Future of St John Hopkins University this week, says that national food security and public health issues were already serious before the plans for the mass deportations of undocumented immigrants were unveiled by President Donald Trump. There are a variety of health risks faced by the workers who grow and process food in the US. These include exposure to pesticides, bacteria resistant to antibiotics and unusual flu virus strains, as well as poor air quality, and contact with animal waste.
Immigrant workers also suffer from limited healthcare access, uncertainty over their legal status and future in the US, poverty, and poor housing conditions. These are all factors resulting in a vulnerable and unstable workforce, which threatens the supply and safety of the nation’s food, jeopardizing the system’s resilience.
The US food supply also suffers when undocumented immigrant workers fall sick or are deported, according to the report. Farms lost around $300 million in 2010 due to work shortages, losses that are then passed on to consumers as price hikes. The report says that without undocumented workers the US food industry would collapse.