With winter quickly rearing back and getting ready to pounce, the frigid temperatures do more than just harm our flower beds and stall our cars in the morning. In the last week alone, three different groups of students on my campus have held fundraisers and coat drives for migrant workers that often don’t have the means to obtain warm clothes for the winter months.
Migrant workers get a lot of flack, mostly from people like Trump who think that Mexican migrants are going to steal our jobs and/or rape our women. This is obviously untrue.
Most of the time, migrant workers are just trying to make a living for themselves in the United States so they can support their families back home, where there are few job opportunities. In the ethnography Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Holmes, the anthropologist outlines the struggles many migrant workers from Mexico face year-round on his prolonged interaction with multiple Oaxacan migrant groups. Not only is the trek to the United States dangerous and expensive, usually draining what little savings they have, the work they receive in the U.S often doesn’t cover any medical expenses. Most of the time, especially in the cases outlined by Holmes, they usually work picking fruit in arduous conditions in the same position for most of the day. This leads to numerous health problems that develop into chronic diseases the more work they have to do.
They barely have enough money to afford food, let alone buy warmer clothing or get themselves and healthcare. They’re working to get you food. They’re performing tasks the average American wouldn’t even want. While you turn your thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter, migrant workers often live six to a room with only a flat piece of cardboard separating them from the floor. Complain again that they’re stealing your jobs. Complain again about migrant workers when you eat a ripe strawberry from your local supermarket. Complain again when you go to the doctor for a cold and get prescribed antibiotics.
A simple google search on supporting migrant workers will lead you to hundreds of results with suggestions and ways you can help. Odds are, your local church or community center may be doing something to aid the health of migrant workers. Your local college activist group might be collecting clothes donations or raising money for their well-being. Becoming aware that this problem exists is the first step to realizing you can start to make a change.
