October 2019, Volume 25, Number 4

California
California added 3.2 million jobs between 2010 and 2019, reducing the unemployment rate to 4.1 percent in summer 2019, a record low. However, the

Regional America: ICE
Some 6,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents inspected workers at seven food processing plants near Canton, Mississippi in August 2019

Labor, AI
The US unemployment rate was below four percent in 2019, as steady job growth continued. The unemployment rate hit a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in

California: H-2A, Cannabis
Santa Maria continues to struggle with housing for H-2A workers and local residents. An estimated 2,400 farm workers are housed in residential areas

Florida, Southeast
The US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division recovered $16,332 in back wages for 44 H-2A workers from AG Labor LLC of Plant City. AG Labor's

Northwest, Northeast, Midwest
New York. The Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (S 6578) gives farm workers the right to organize into unions without employer interference and

UFW, ALRB, Unions
ALRB. The ALRB issued several decisions in summer 2019 before losing its third member. In Gerawan 45 ALRB 7, the Board upheld an ALJ decision that

Central Americans, Politics
A record 390,308 people traveling as families entered the US illegally in the first nine months of FY19, plus 63,624 unaccompanied children under 18.

DHS: CBP, ICE, USCIS
American Community Survey data estimate that the US had 45 million foreign-born residents in 2018, making immigrants 13.7 percent of US residents.

H-2A; H-2B
The H-2A program continues to expand. Over 206,000 farm jobs were certified to be filled with H-2A workers during the first three quarters of FY19,

Canada, Mexico
Canada has one of the world's highest rates of immigration and one of the largest shares of guest workers in its labor force, including foreign

Europe, Asia
A March 2016 EU-Turkey agreement commits Turkey to accept the return of migrants who leave Turkey's western coast and arrive illegally on nearby

Global Migration, Population
President Trump, speaking at the UN General Assembly in September 2019, said "Many of the countries here today are coping with the challenges of

California Agriculture
Farm Bureau in 1969 commemorated its 50th anniversary by asking for predictions about the state's agriculture in 2019. The AFBF's Matt Triggs

US Ag, Sugar
US farm debt is rising, approaching the level of debt associated with the mid-1980s farm crisis. Farm debt is $425 billion in 2019, up from $325

Wine, Food
California wine grape growers produced a record 4.3 million tons of grapes in 2018, up 10 percent from the average for the previous four years. The

Climate
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report in August 2019 warning that the over-exploitation of farm land and water resources