By Johanna Schenner

In California, agriculture and the tech industry are currently experiencing an ongoing labor shortage despite record levels of unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These labor shortages are not novel, as testified by the establishment of the agricultural guest worker scheme in 1918 at the federal level and the tech industry’s H-1B version in 1990. In October 2020, the current Administration introduced significant changes to the H-1B guest worker scheme by i) increasing the wage levels for such workers; ii) reducing the number of jobs that qualify for the guest worker scheme; and iii) decreasing the visa…

By: Jiayu Fang

Who are experiencing the strongest stress under the current crisis of COVID-19?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this group includes essential workers in the food industry, racial and ethnic minorities, and those lacking access to information in their primary language. In the U.S., many immigrants fall into these categories. 69% of immigrant workers work in the ‘essential infrastructure’. 88% of immigrants come from places other than Europe and North America. And 83% of immigrants speak languages other than English at home. …

By Zoe Lee-Park

The United States is overwhelmingly responsible for causing and accelerating climate change. As President Joe Biden has now chosen his Climate Team, I’ve wondered if his top advisors have considered or will consider climate injustice: the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world will bear the most devastating impacts of climate change, from intensified hurricanes to growing crop losses. Even though they have contributed the least to the crisis, they will suffer the most.

We see this pattern within our own nation, too: powerful people, often white and affluent, have the highest standards of living, but…

Por Alein Y. Haro

Hoy, 18 de junio, recibí mensajes de felicitación por la decisión de DACA de la Corte Suprema de mantener el programa a pesar de los múltiples intentos del presidente de ponerle fin. Verá, soy estudiante de doctorado de UC Berkeley y & “DACAmented.” Podría haberme convertido en lo que llamaría “completamente” ; indocumentada en cualquier momento si DACA fuera revocado. DACA es el hilo del que estoy aferrada para continuar mi viaje, tanto académica como personal en este país.

Mi vida, la vida de miles de otros beneficiarios de DACA y los diez millones de inmigrantes…

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

By Noah Allison

Preface

The piece below is a synthesized snapshot from a dissertation chapter. It is important for readers to know that this text describes situations prior to the onslaught of the current viral crisis. During the first few weeks of the pandemic, few places suffered as much as Northwestern Queens. The patch of densely packed areas recorded more than 7,000 cases in the first week of the outbreak. According to healthcare professionals, a primary reason for this is that the pandemic is disproportionately affecting day laborers, restaurant and delivery workers, and cleaners, those who make up the largest share…

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

By Johanna Schenner

Editor’s Note: The following article will soon be published in a longer report as apart of our BIMI Policy Brief series.

In the past couple of years, numerous newspaper articles have emphasized the significant challenges experienced by growers, farmers and contractors in California agriculture, in recruiting sufficient workers to harvest produce and tend animals. These news stories are supported by a 2019 survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau and researchers at UC Davis. A lack of workers has important ramifications, including: i) a fragile food supply chain: with fewer workers available, employers may not be able…

TALES FROM THE FIELD

By Michelle Phillips

“Maaf mbak, boleh duduk di sini?”

It was just the polite way to ask if I could sit on the floor in Taipei Main Station to eat my dinner. But the reaction I got was shock: near-fluent Indonesian was the last thing these migrant domestic workers expected to hear from a white American woman in Taiwan. The women quickly made room for me, smiling in embarrassment, and asked my name. As we continued to talk, heads turned to stare at us; in a little while, a small group gathered around us.

I kept my self-introductions honest: I…

Opinion

By Alein Y. Haro

Spanish version of this blog be found here.

Today, I received congratulatory messages for the Supreme Court’s DACA decision to uphold the program despite the President’s multiple attempts to end it. You see, I am a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley and “DACAmented.” I might have become what I would call “fully” undocumented at any minute if DACA were revoked. DACA is the thread I’m hanging on to continue my journey — both academically and personally.

My life, the life of thousands of other DACA recipients, and the ten million undocumented immigrants are always in limbo.

…