If Andrew Johnson remembers well, for more than twenty years now white South Africans have been seen coming to work on farms in Mississippi. According to records at Pitts Farm, where the now-60s farmhand worked, the South African accent was heard on the farm beginning in 2014.
The South Africans were good guys, hardworking, discreet. They were paid 60% more than the others, but they had nothing to do with it, points out Andrew Johnson. “They didn’t know how much we earned, and we didn’t know how much they earned.”
Every year, several thousand come from South Africa to work as seasonal workers in agriculture, thanks to the temporary H2A visa. Under this system created in 1986, the employer must finance the worker’s plane tickets, board and lodging, and offer him a bonus hourly wage. Due to the continuing shortage of agricultural labor in the United States, the issuance of H2A visas jumped 211% between 2011 and 2021.
South African recruits, fleeing a sluggish economy and high crime, have meanwhile increased by 692% over the same period, and they now represent the second largest contingent of H2A workers behind Mexicans.
Discrimination in wages… and access to toilets
In Sunflower County, Mississippi, these seasonal workers come in a particular context. In this region where the population is 70% black,
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The Economist (London)
Great institution of the British press, The Economist, founded in 1843 by a Scottish hatter, is the bible for anyone interested in international affairs. Openly liberal, he generally defends free trade, globalization, immigration and cultural liberalism. It is printed in six countries, and 85% of its sales are outside the UK.
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2023-06-09 03:00:24
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