UVA Team Launches Critical Labor Migration Study

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of guest-worker visas issued has increased fourfold in the last decade, but the H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers still isn’t keeping pace with the nation’s growing demand for agricultural labor. The current program has also been criticized for leaving workers without the same protections the domestic labor force enjoys, which could further undermine the stability of a migrant labor force.  

However, a new project led by researchers with the University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences aims to help the USDA expand and improve the H-2A program and avert a looming crisis for America’s growers and the nation’s food supply. 

The nation’s H-2A visa program currently attracts most of its migrant workers from Mexico, but the Biden administration is looking into opportunities to increase the number of migrants recruited from Central America. The move would give more workers from those countries legal status as guest workers and could give growers from the United States access to a larger work force. 

The question is how to ensure an expanding H-2A program protects workers against labor violations, including ones as serious as human trafficking, which has been a problem for migrant labor programs, said Jennifer Bair, senior associate dean for academic affairs and professor of sociology for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and lead investigator for the UVA-based project. 

Farm work is considered one of the most hazardous jobs in the U.S. labor market, so all workers need protection from risks such as pesticide exposure and heat stress, Bair said.  

“We’re researching a major USDA initiative providing grants to farms that commit to implementing robust labor standards for both U.S.-based workers and those hired under the H2A program,” Bair said. “The hope is that this program could, by improving conditions for farmworkers and stabilizing the agricultural work force, increase the sustainability of our food supply chains.” 

To complete the work, Bair’s team is partnering with the Community and Labor Center at the University of California, Merced, which will expand the project’s capacity to connect with growers and workers around the country to gain insights into the challenges they face. The goal is to create a “high-road” program that would ensure that conditions for migrant employees are consistent with U.S. labor laws, that provides them with a dignified employment opportunity, and that treats them as critical partners in the health of the nation’s food chain. 

New Visibility for Agricultural Research at UVA 

Although it’s rare for the USDA to fund agricultural research at UVA, the project brings $2.9 million in funding to the University and will support both graduate and undergraduate research opportunities for the next two and a half years.  

The study began as a result of seed funding provided by the University’s Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, which allowed Bair and her team to map where migrant workers are coming from, where they’re being employed, and the impact they have on local labor markets.  

Their findings attracted the attention of the USDA, which reached out to Bair for help in conducting more in-depth research. 

“UVA is becoming a center for research on labor migration,” said Bair, whose expertise is in global supply chains. “This project elevates the visibility of the work that we’re doing, and I don’t think we would have gotten this opportunity without the seed funding provided by CGII, so I’m really grateful for that support.” 

In addition to the research coming from the USDA grant, Bair added that it’s creating opportunities for her graduate students to do the kind of research that will launch them into their careers.  

Kathryn Babineau, a postdoctoral researcher with three degrees from UVA, including a Ph.D. in sociology completed earlier this year, will work full-time on the project. Victor Yengle, a former Bridge to the Doctorate fellow and current graduate student in sociology, will work as a graduate research assistant on the project. Bair’s co-principal investigator on the project, associate professor of sociology Adam Slez, is also the director of graduate studies for the Department of Sociology.  

“The project opens up tremendous opportunities for graduate students at UVA,” Yengle said. “The size and complexity of this project mean that we’ll need contributions from graduate research assistants, giving students hands-on experience with a major, multi-year research collaboration across universities. Through this project, students will develop skills working with a diverse group of people and gain a deeper understanding of complex socio-economic issues that have national and global implications.”  

Yengle was among a group of students from Arts & Sciences and the School of Law who traveled to Chile and South Africa last year with Bair and Nelson Camilo Sánchez León, director of the law school’s Immigration, Migration and Human Rights Program, to study labor migration and global supply chains for a different University research project. 

Christa Acampora, Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy and dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, applauded the work Bair has done to expand the visibility of the Department of Sociology and its students through the project. 

“This is an outstanding example of the talents Senior Associate Dean Bair brings to Arts & Sciences and of her extraordinary leadership in advancing the University’s reputation as a center for interdisciplinary research with profound international impact and a home for exceptional graduate education,” she said.