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Migrant Workers of the Virginia Tidewater

Jose Rodriguez, "The process of harvesting crabs and the impact of COVID-19"

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Life as Migrant Workers of the Virginia Tidewater
Along the Eastern Shore of Virginia, thousands of migrant workers reside during peak farming seasons. Migrant workers from Mexico and other countries in Latin America travel hours on buses for jobs on the Eastern Shore so that they can help support their family. These workers provide vital labor necessary for agricultural production in the United States. This would not be possible without the H-2B Visas as well as temporary housing conditions provided by companies. Although workers are provided with some accommodations, they still faced major challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, legal and political issues, and being separated from their families.

THE H-2B VISA SYSTEM AND INDUSTRY IN THE VIRGINIA TIDEWATER AREA

In the wake of the migrant worker crisis, it's important to note that the Chesapeake Bay has always and forever been indebted to non-white populations. From the Native Americans who lived in the region before colonization, to the predominately slave-labor and black populations that staffed the brand-new seafood industry, to the immigrants who came in during the mid-20th century, to the overwhelmingly hispanic population working there today. With the positives that come from industrialization and access to education, and the negatives that come when an industry regulation forces lower-income families and smaller companies out of the business, existing places up and down the east coast, including the Virginia Tidewater area have had difficulty in finding and maintaining workers.

To quote Ki'Amber Thompson writing for Ocean Conservatory: "So, who is working the Bay’s waterways today? In the Bay’s seafood processing industry, the majority of the workers are now foreign workers, mostly from Mexico. It has become more and more challenging to find reliable workers for seafood processing jobs (such as crab or oyster processing) because the work is hard, tedious, repetitive and seasonal. Temporary foreign workers are able to work these jobs through H-2B visas."

H-2B Visas are work permits that allow those who live outside the United States to engage in non-agricultural work within the states. Thus, seafood and farming companies use the H-2B visas and typically employ from Mexico in order to have the staff to maintain operation. But this is not without its own faults. There are only a limited number of H-2B visas released each year, and with changes in political administration, specifics vary. In 2022, there were about 66,000 thousand visas applicable across the entire country, and demand was so high that the Department of Homeland Security released an additional 64,000 to try and meet demand. Thus, these visas are highly valuable and result in groundskeeping, maintenance, seafood workers, and more essentially playing a lottery game to get work (Jeff Barker, Washington Post, 2022).

BUILDING COMMUNITIES

To help grapple with the hardships of being away from family, migrant workers have turned to churches as well as community centers to create a sense of belonging and home while being away from their families. When Father Michael Imperial and Kathleen Bredimus began to work together at Migrant Ministries at the Eastern Shore of Virginia, they worked on faith based programs where migrant workers from all different faiths will be able to receive sacraments that are meaningful to them.

https://youtu.be/Hf9XzatrVsk

Kevin Fallon, a local member of the community that works with Father Michael Imperial to provide spiritual guidance as well as services to migrant farm workers on the Eastern Shore. Both him and his wife would travel to the migrant worker camps where the workers live to mingle and create relationships with them. This helped the migrant workers feel like they were part of the Eastern Shore community.

“Our primary goal is to bring spiritual services to the camps…we go into those camps and try to assess their needs and try to procide them, to the extent that we can, anything to make them feel a little bit more like home or at least part of the community,”.

https://youtu.be/ZYUfJuGbrhU

Migrant workers like Juan Flores and his wife believe that by him and his wife being a part of a Parish within the community has helped them feel like they have been supported. The church has allowed them to participate in retreats the connect them with migrant workers in other communities.

“ I’m in a ministry. I’ve been here for seven years. My wife participates in the church here too, she has a position in the church. [We] are very well supported… we do retreats in different communities [as well],”.

https://youtu.be/y70Zzc5f_D4

PANDEMIC
When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, migrant workers began facing issues with the types of work that they were able to complete due to the challenges of social distancing and spreading the virus to others. Migrant worker Josue Morales saw first hand the effects of the pandemic.

“ At that time, I was working in Delaware… then many people were afraid because there were a large number of people, maybe 400 in that plant during the night shift [working together]. Many people were afraid to say, ‘I’m not going to to get infected, I can infect my children, my family,’...what we did was take care of ourselves a little more, used more protection, washed our hands well, [and] left my clothes in a place where no one could touch them [after work],”.

Similarly, Juan Flores, a migrant worker from Honduras that works on the Eastern Shore, had similar negative experiences. Unfortunately, when Flores’s wife was pregnant, she almost passed away from COVID-19. Flores took off two months to take care of his wife, but unfortunately they had no savings. This made it extremely difficult to survive because Juan received no paid time off.
“Two years ago [my wife] was seven months pregnant and she got the virus. She was in the hospital for two weeks and on the verge of dying. Unfortunately I gave the disease to her the same time that I got sick, but I did not get as sick as she did… she was in the hospital for two weeks, by thank G-d we came out okay…I took almost two months of of work to take care of my wife….unpaid,”.

Although David Perez, a migrant worker from Guatemala, did not have the pandemic personally affect his family, he has touched upon the impacts of social distancing on his job.
“...[there’s not many of us that work together], that’s why they didn’t restrict us as much as the large companies that are 10,12 people, so they couldn’t get together,”.
POLITICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
Political and legal issues have also greatly affected some migrants and their families. Migrant workers like Juan Flores, explains how policies have been affecting the certain prices of materials, leading to limits on investments that companies are making.
“ [Depending on who is in office], big companies don’t like to invest…at times, there have been jobs that close or companies who no longer want to invest because…of the boss’s clients. They say, ‘no, the materials are very expensive, we can’t do anything,’ “.
Immigration policies have also been affecting migrant workers greatly. Father McAndrew, a redemptorist missionary and social director of the Catholic Migrant Farmworker network in Nebraska, has gone into great detail about how the legal systems have changed between I.N.S and I.C.E as well as the effects of the raids that have occurred.
Furthermore, the government has rarely assisted migrant families as well. Although they give migrants resources on where to find work and a small check, they do not get much help.
“ …they helped us a little… when my wife was pregnant, they gave us a check…[just enough for a gallon of milk and a few beans…nobody pays us rent…I work and pay and here we both work,”.
Some migrant workers, such as Gregorio Hernandez, however, do not have to worry about legal issues and are fortunate enough to have their own lawyers.
“I have a lawyer because I want my situation fixed. I want to be legal here, but I don’t have problems, I am happy [here],”.
BEING AWAY FROM FAMILY
One of the most difficult emotional aspects of being a migrant worker emotionally is being separated from family. Josue Morales, a migrant worker from Guatemala, sends money to his family in his home country while raising his kids in the United States. He explains how difficult it was to make the decision about bringing his kids to the United States while he worked and how although they are not enjoying themselves to the fullest, at least he is making a life here.
“It was very difficult to make the decision of ‘let’s go, ‘My children are going to another country,’. They are already so used to this life, here in this country of the United States. My parents are there and my family is here. I’m making a life here, here we are , living. We are, maybe not enjoying ourselves to the fullest but live a normal life like everyone else, as an American who can make a life here,”.
Roberto Melendez, a migrant worker from Mexico chose to keep his immediate family in Mexico rather than move them to the United States so that they did not have to uproot their lives as well. Roberto not being able to live with his immediate family has brought on its own unique challenges, such as making time to speak with one another and finding a way to celebrate holidays.
“I speak to [my wife everyday]. I call her in the afternoons, leaving work or at night before going to bed. You have to have communication with them at night so that you do not lose it,”.

THE WHY OF IT ALL
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CONCLUSION
Overall, migrant workers across the Eastern Shores of Virginia have faced a series of challenges once they have arrived in the United States. Even after obtaining H2-B Visas, workers have combated legal issues, political issues, and recieving the proper help during the Pandemic. During these troubling times workers did not have the comfort of having their immediate family with them for a majority of the time. To ease the pain of not having a proper support system while working in the United States, migrant workers depended on programs such as Migrant Ministries to create their own sense of community. While overcoming these major barriers, migrant workers have become a major piece in the United States’ economy.

Even though it is the end of the article, it isn't the end of the story! Follow through to see our interactive map and to learn more about the people whose lives we just described.

[REMOVE ONCE ARTICLE IS FINISHED. TEMPORARY HOLDING PLACE FOR CLIPS.]

PANDEMIC

POLITICAL AND LEGAL

BEING AWAY FROM FAMILY

BUILDING COMMUNITIES

THE WHY OF IT
Jose Rodriguez
Jose Rodriguez first came to the United States in 1992 to work in North Carolina. Since 1995 he has been worked for a company in the crabbing industry in Virginia. Working his way up the ranks of his profession, Mr. Rodriguez is now a plant manager. He is in charge of bringing over employees from foreign companies, particularly from Mexico, who have H-2B visas. In this interview, Mr. Rodriguez talks about how he became a part of the industry and the obstacles that the company and its employees have faced.

Below are several excerpts from our full interview with Jose Rodriguez. Some of these clips were included in our telling of this story, Some haven't! You can view all of our clips below, and the full interview can be located at the bottom of the page.

Arrival in the United States
How the Owners of the Company Are Involved in the Migrant Worker Process
How U.S. Politics Have Impacted Migrant Workers and Businesses
The Difference in Hours Worked and Money Earned between Mexico and the U.S.
The Process of Harvesting Crabs and the Impact of COVID-19
Concluding Thoughts on the Future of the Industry
Full Oral History Interview