Foreign farm workers are struggling amid Trump's immigration crackdown: It was terrifying'

"In the midst of harvest season this year, Hurricane Melissa, a record-breaking category 5 hurricane, made landfall in Jamaica. It was terrifying, said Salmon, whose wife and two children were at home near Black River, a town on the country's south-western coast. For days, I couldn't hear from them. When I finally did, I heard my roof was completely gone. My wife and kids had to run for their lives, but thank God they're alive."

"Salmon is one of roughly 5,000 Jamaican workers who come to the US each year on an H-2A visa. The H-2A guest worker visa program allows US farms and agricultural firms to hire foreign workers for temporary jobs. It plays a significant role in the US's agriculture industry, which remains reliant on overseas labor at crucial points on the calendar: last year, more than 380,000 workers were authorized for H-2A visas, about 15% of the US agricultural workforce."

"He threatened us if we didn't work fast, and there was nobody to stop him. Dozens of workers who did nothing wrong have not been able to return from one year to the next, Salmon claimed. Wafler Farms denied this, claiming they have never not recalled workers but are required to actively recruit US workers and are required to offer any positions to them before we hire a worker through the H-2A program."

Owen Salmon has picked apples in upstate New York for almost a decade while his family lived near Black River on Jamaica's south-western coast. Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a record-breaking category 5 storm, destroying roofs and forcing families to flee; an estimated 90,000 households and 360,000 people were affected. Salmon is among roughly 5,000 Jamaican workers who come to the US yearly on H-2A visas. The H-2A program supplies temporary agricultural labor and authorized over 380,000 workers last year, about 15% of the US agricultural workforce. Allegations of employer threats and non-recall of workers contrast with the farm's denial, and the United Farm Workers has launched a fundraiser to rebuild affected union members' homes.

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