three-quarters were born in Mexico.
Meanwhile, half of all migrant farm work-
ers are estimated to be unauthorized, ille-
gal workers. Only 25 percent of all farm
workers in the United States are U.S.
citizens.
Critics of illegal immigration fre-
quently argue that Mexican farm workers
are taking jobs away from jobless
American citizens. Little evidence sup-
ports this claim. In fact, agricultural work
is among the lowest paid, most dangerous
occupations in the American economy.
Most farm workers receive poverty
wages. Three out of four earn less than
$10,000 a year, and only 14 percent have
full-time work. Three out of every five
farm worker families live below the feder-
al poverty line. Making matters worse,
farm workers live in harsh conditions as
migrant housing often lacks plumbing orworking appliances, and are often located
next to pesticide-laden fields. Even so,
farm workers must spend more than 30
percent of their income on housing.
In addition, farm workers are dis-
abled with injuries and illness at a rate
three times that of the general popula-
tion. In California, the average death rate
for farm workers is five times that of
workers in other industries. According to
a study published by the Institute for
Global Communications, pesticides poi-
son approximately 300,000 farm workers
in the U.S. annually. And when farm
workers get sick, they rarely have health
insurance. In one 1997–1998 study, only
five percent of farm workers reported
having employer-paid health insurance
to cover non-work-related illnesses, only
28 percent received any kind of compen-
sation for work-related illness, and just216 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY
A Shifting Population: Mexican Americans by State, 1999 vs. 2006
1999
2006