Walking with the Excluded: Reflections on Accompanying Seasonal Farmworkers

In May of 2023 and September of 2024, I ventured out of Seattle and spent a week in the small town of Mattawa, Washington. Mattawa is a little-known town (even to many born-and-raised Washingtonians) nestled along the mighty Columbia River, exactly halfway between the state’s two biggest cities, Seattle and Spokane. Mattawa is one of many farmworker communities located in the heart of the Columbia River Basin, characterized by its fertile soils and temperate climate, perfect conditions for growing apples, cherries, and grapes.

Over the last century, the agricultural workforce (and by extension the local population) has changed such that Mattawa is now almost entirely composed of Latinos, specifically Mexican immigrants or first-, second-, and even third-generation Mexican Americans. As big agriculture companies continue to outsource “low skill” labor through the H2A seasonal farmworker visa program (the total number of issued visas having quadrupled over the last decade), the number of contratados (H2As) in Mattawa for six to nine months of the year has dramatically increased.

I am part of a binational team of faculty and student researchers and our community partners from Mexico, all of us focused on labor migration and migrant worker rights on both sides of the border. We’ve learned that while H2As are very beneficial for the community, boosting the local economy, social dynamics between residents and H2As have grown tense over the years, mostly due to safety concerns and other impacts of increased H2A contracting on the local workforce.

After many conversations with members of the community, including public officials, religious leaders, business owners, ranchers, and residents, I’ve heard many things about H2A workers. While there’s been the occasional positive comment about their strong work ethic, they’re mostly associated with economic value and bad behavior. “Everyone sees them as walking dollar signs,” we heard on our most recent trip. Indeed, agricultural companies depend on their labor and local businesses depend on their purchases. H2As have also been described to us as expensive, unprepared, inexperienced, immature, illusioned, troublesome, rambunctious, and threatening.

As we were reminded of by a community member on this trip, I am not from Mattawa, so I cannot speak to community members’ experiences there. What I can speak to, however, is my own direct experience and proximity to H2A workers over the past several years that I’ve been involved in this project. Having conducted many interviews, surveys, and focus groups with H2As, having visited them in their indigenous origin communities tucked away in the mountains of Veracruz, Mexico, and having visited them on their remote ranches in central Washington, I have come to see these men as so much more than their bad reputation.

First and foremost, I see them as human beings, shaped by and reacting to their surroundings. They are young, ambitious men with strong feelings and big dreams. They are also fathers, sons, brothers, and partners. They are providers for their families back in Mexico, who they miss dearly, and who also think of them and miss them every day, hoping and praying for their safe return home at the end of the season.

One word keeps coming to mind: sacrifice. The H2A experience is one characterized by sacrifice. Their sacrifice is physical, as farm work is laborious, dangerous, and over time creates lasting wear and tear on one's body. Their sacrifice is also emotional, as these men often end up spending several years apart from their families. In their absence, there is a painful void in their families and communities. They miss out on their children’s first steps and graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, priceless moments in one's life that are sacrificed to provide for their families and build a better future.

As we continue to work towards greater visibility of H2As and their inclusion into the rural communities of central Washington, a more holistic view of their wellbeing and needs, and a more sustainable recruitment approach in their indigenous origin communities, this is the perspective of H2A workers that I hold and hope more and more people start to see. An image characterized by humanity, dignity, and sacrifice rather than prejudice or a transaction. This especially applies to those in positions of power, not only in Mattawa, but across the country, as the H2A program continues to expand nationally each year.

Thanks to the generosity of our funders, our research team has put into action two of the four Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus: walking with the excluded and journeying with youth. I am very grateful that Seattle University makes experiences like this one possible, with opportunities for community engagement, personal growth, and professional development. Besides gaining a greater awareness of farmworkers’ experiences and appreciation for their sacrifices, this project has also opened my eyes to the importance of visibilizing and advocating for our seasonal farmworkers. As a team, we hope to continue our research and advocacy in central Washington to make lasting, positive change.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Our research team, known as “Plataforma Huaya-Puebla-Seattle,” is a binational collaboration between Radio Huaya, Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, and Seattle University. Since 2021, we have visited Mattawa four times and taken several trips to indigenous origin communities throughout Veracruz, Mexico. Engaged in community-based participatory action research, we aim to center the interests of Radio Huaya, build lasting relationships, and give back to the communities where we do research (on both sides of the border). In Veracruz, we have attended community gatherings and engaged in meaningful dialogue. In Mattawa, we have volunteered for trash clean-up days and food distribution and participated in city-wide events. Each time we return, we strengthen our connections to the community and our relationships with its residents and leaders. As a result, we have deepened our knowledge of social dynamics in the community and varying perspectives on the local effects of the H2A program.