Maricel Mendoza is familiar with the work migrant and seasonal farmworkers do. Growing up, her family traveled from Texas to central Illinois every year for her parents鈥� jobs as contractors with a large seed company.
鈥淎ll of my parents鈥� siblings were migrants, my grandparents were migrants,鈥� Mendoza says. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 just something that was the norm for me.鈥�
As a teen, she spent several summers out in the fields herself, working alongside crews detasseling corn. The process involves yanking off the pollen-producing top portion of plants to promote cross-breeding with nearby varieties 鈥� a critical step for creating hybrid seed corn.
Mendoza says it鈥檚 hard labor.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e working in the rain, you鈥檙e working in the mud, you鈥檙e working with bugs,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd you don鈥檛 ever have an end time. Once the work is done you go home.鈥�
Today, Mendoza directs a small clinic in Champaign, Illinois, that provides basic medical services to hundreds of farmworkers in east-central Illinois. Some live in the area, while many come from southern U.S. states and Mexico to work in the summer and fall.
This year, in addition to conducting health risk assessments and discussing medical and other needs, the clinic is working with companies and state and local health departments to test migrant farmworkers for COVID-19 upon arrival. The goal is to clamp down on cases before they spread.
There鈥檚 a lack of data regarding COVID-19 among the estimated two million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the U.S. The has compiled reports from media outlets and partner organizations documenting more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19 among farmworkers , including Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. Several workers have died.
Mendoza says news of outbreaks in other areas concerns her, but she hopes that proactive measures will allow Illinois鈥� farmworkers to be spared as they perform essential work during the pandemic.
鈥榃e knew it was coming鈥�
The clinic Mendoza directs is part of the , based in Chicago.
The partnership is a federally qualified health center, among more than 170 others in the U.S. Their work is especially critical right now, says Sylvia Partida, CEO of the Texas-based National Center for Farmworker Health.
鈥淲hen the pandemic first started, and we were just beginning to hear information about the impact on farmworkers, we knew it was coming,鈥� Partida says. 鈥淵ou just knew that it was going to get worse and worse and worse.鈥�
Partida鈥檚 organization supports community health centers like the Community Health Partnership, which cater to migrant agricultural workers.
U.S. migrant clinics serve about a million patients a year, according to . About 70% of them live below the federal poverty line and more than 33% lack health insurance, so clinics provide services regardless of a patient鈥檚 ability to pay.
The vast majority of patients in these clinics are Hispanic or Latino 鈥� groups that have been disproportionately hurt by COVID-19, according to CDC data reported by the .
Over the past several weeks, Mendoza says staffers have been traveling the state, setting up outdoor mobile clinics under tents, in parking lots at hotels and other places where workers are being housed.
At first, she worried workers might be hesitant to get tested, since a positive result would mean missing out on work.
鈥淏ut every COVID-19 testing site we鈥檝e set up that I鈥檝e been at, you鈥檝e seen people willingly come and line up, wanting to get the test done,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd they have questions and they鈥檙e wearing their masks.鈥�
Farmworkers are at increased risk because the nature of the field work can make social distancing difficult, Partida says. Often, workers are paid per acre, and spacing out in the fields can slow productivity.
Additionally, many workers live in dorm-style housing in apartments and hotels, and travel on crowded buses to and from field sites.
Partida says a lack of a coordinated response between the federal departments of labor and agriculture is to blame for the outbreaks among migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
鈥淛ust like we have seen our health care having to be done ... kind of piecemeal, every state does their own thing, every county does their own thing, every city does their own thing,鈥� Partida says. 鈥淭he same thing is happening with employers.鈥�
Two large seed companies that responded to questions via email said they鈥檙e taking numerous precautions to keep workers safe during the pandemic.
A spokesperson for Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2016, said the company is working with the state health department and the Community Health Partnership to provide COVID-19 testing. Bayer offers paid leave for those who need to isolate or quarantine, and the company is taking steps to limit interactions among employees to designated 鈥減ods鈥� or small groups, to 鈥渉elp with isolation if an employee becomes ill.鈥�
A spokesperson for Corteva Agriscience, which acquired DuPont Pioneer in 2018, did not say whether workers needing to isolate or quarantine would receive paid leave, stating only that 鈥渆ach situation is managed by a nurse on staff.鈥�
The companies hire contractors, referred to as crew leaders or providers, who are responsible for hiring and housing the hundreds of migrant workers that work in the fields growing seed corn.
Both Bayer and Corteva said their contractors have lowered the occupancy per room and changed travel habits to minimize potential spread of COVID-19. Workers are provided with masks and training on social distancing, sanitization and hygiene guidelines, are required to participate in daily symptom and temperature checks, and have access to nurses on site.
鈥淪afety is our number one priority for everyone,鈥� a Corteva spokesperson said, 鈥渨hich is why we have a team dedicated to reviewing all field activities, identifying areas of concern, and implementing mitigation measures.鈥�
Hoping for the best
Addressing the vulnerability of migrant workers during the pandemic would require a complete overhaul of the nation鈥檚 agriculture system, says Partida with the National Center for Farmworker Health.
People expect to have cheap produce, she says, 鈥渁nd the only way we do that is through cheap labor. Now we're in a situation where we don't want interruptions in our food supply. And so that means we're sacrificing individuals that are doing that work.鈥�
Chicago-based attorney Miguel Keberlein-Gutierrrez shares these concerns. For years, he provided legal services to migrant workers in Illinois and says the workers are highly vulnerable.
鈥淭he system has absolutely historically been set up to exploit people,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople continue to take the jobs because for a lot of them, it鈥檚 the only option they actually have.鈥�
Keberlein-Gutierrez worries about the lack of accountability for employers and the inability of overburdened health departments to enforce and guidance.
Mendoza says lately, it鈥檚 been taking five days to get test results back from the state鈥檚 public health lab. She worries the delay may allow COVID-19 to spread.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a concern that we're not doing enough, or don't have enough resources, or what can we do to do better? We're constantly having that conversation,鈥� she says.
Asked how many migrant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 so far in Champaign County, Champaign-Urbana Public Health Administrator Julie Pryde said in an email that information is not being collected.
She said while the health district can鈥檛 require COVID-19 testing, they鈥檙e working with partners like the Community Health Partnership to offer testing. Pryde said she suggests workers get re-tested 鈥渁ny time there are symptoms, or five days after any potential exposure鈥� and said the companies are responsible for designating housing for those requiring isolation or quarantine.
So far, Mendoza says she鈥檚 aware of at least one migrant worker in central Illinois who has tested positive. As detasseling season kicks off, she鈥檚 just hoping more workers don鈥檛 get sick.
This story was produced by , in collaboration with the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Christine Herman is a reporter at Illinois Public Media. Follow her on Twitter:
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