"My grandpa had a phrase for someone who talked big but had nothing to show for it, he would say, "That man is all hat and no cattle'," said Teresa Hendricks, Director of Migrant Legal Aid. "I'm reminded of that as I visit labor camps this season."

MLA has seen lots of COVID-19 information postings, but not much evidence of actual prevention measures. That's what we're finding on our 3x/week outreach visits to migrant housing. COVID-19 is a prominent concern in dense housing arrangements like migrant labor camps. Prevention measures, although suggested by Executive Order 2020-137, are too often disregarded. Many camps like this one had the paper COVID postings, but closer inspection of the housing units and common areas showed no partitions between beds, no disinfectant in housing and common areas, no signs of supplies of PPE. Workers try to stretch the use of delicate surgical masks by washing and drying them. We find conditions that range from the "chupa-cabra" rare scenario of very clear COVID-19 precautionary measures in place that allow for adequate social distancing within housing, to almost no sign of any plans in action. We have been passing out hundreds of safety kits with packets of masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer to do our part in helping offset the lax compliance and enforcement that enables the spread within the farmworker community.

FRONTLINE covered "COVID's Hidden Toll" in the feature they aired on July 21, examining how the pandemic has hurt immigrants and undocumented workers. The documentary specifically looks at how COVID-19 has affected essential farm and meat-packing workers who are not adequately protected.

Watch the 50 minute documentary here.

Check out what our staff said and tell us why you mask up here.

We are honored to be named Partner Agency of the Year by Heart of West Michigan United Way for the

2019-2020 year!

We could not do what we do without the vital help from United Way and we are grateful for their continued support of our efforts to help the migrant farmworker community and help rid the supply chain of exploitation.

On June 1, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order stating that employers should take measures to protect their farm workers from COVID-19, such as providing personal protective equipment (PPE), adjusting employer-provided housing to allow for social distancing, providing more hand washing stations at work sites, partitions between beds, isolation housing and more. On June 29, 2020, the Order was extended to November 1, 2020, to cover the end of seasonal work. MLA supports Gov. Whitmer's efforts to protect farm workers. MLA is not aware of any reports of noncompliance being enforced in a way that resulted in a civil monetary penalty. Where's the teeth?

Disparate Treatment, threat of job loss? On August 3, 2020, Public Health Director Gordan issued an order that mandates that farmworkers, being Hispanics -as mentioned in his press release-- face the consequence of job loss (prohibited in-person work) if they do not submit to testing (even if they are asymptomatic, healthy, and haven't been exposed to COVID-19 infected co-workers), or were prohibited from in-person work. Many workers have contacted us and expressed concern for being singled out and ethnically targeted, forced to take medical tests they' didn't need or want, and which were not medically necessary, being exposed to COVID-19 in the process of getting tested, losing their job and employer-provided housing, losing peak earnings when not infected, and questions about why this is only applicable to them. Click to read the updated executive order here.

Some growers and workers filed suit in Federal Court, while other workers have referred their complaint to the Department of Justice.

Read Migrant Legal Aid's Position Statement here

Safety kits are flying out of the office faster than our interns can pack them! We have passed out 1,317 in eight weeks.

A huge thank you to Justice for Migrant Women for the incredible gift of 12,000 reusable masks, made perfect for farmworkers.

We are including a pack in every one of farmworker safety kits for the rest of the season.

This Summer at MLA we had a team of five amazing interns, all dedicated to protecting Michigan's farmworkers. All of them helped out on outreach but also ran our social media and website, helped with case work, organized outreach trips, helped out with out summer events and everything in between! Check out information on internships here.

Thank you Esperanza, De'Chelle, Halsey, Hope, and Lupita for your hard work this summer at MIgrant Legal Aid! We are excited about everything you accomplished!