Cosponsored by Economic Opportunity Funders, Forefront, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrant and Refugees, and Maine Philanthropy Center

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 1 p.m. ET

As discussed in Building Immigrant and Worker Power in Rural America, immigrants and refugees add to the diversity of rural communities and help mitigate the negative impacts of a rapidly aging population while also stimulating local economies. The availability of work in manufacturing and agriculture has contributed to the considerable growth of immigrant populations in these communities, with nearly 75 percent of all farmworkers in the United States being foreign-born.

Many of these workers lack access to preventative health care, may have limited access to transportation, lack information about available health care services, and fear discrimination and deportation. Additionally, agricultural workers are particularly susceptible to infectious diseases because of the long periods of time they spend in close contact with other workers, sharing transportation and housing with other workers or family members, and moving from community to community for work. These poor health outcomes are in addition to the numerous migration-related and post-migration stressors that can impact the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being of immigrants and refugees.

During this webinar, we held a discussion with immigrant justice movement leaders on how they are working to protect the health, safety, and well-being of immigrant workers in rural communities. Speakers included Dan Torres of Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund, Aura Aguilar of North Bay Jobs with Justice, Monica Garcia of MHP Salud, and Alexis Guild of Farmworker Justice.