Esenciales pero vulnerables: Trabajadores agrícolas mexicanos ante la pandemia del COVID-19 en Estados Unidos
Por:
Alarcón R., Ramírez-García T.
Publicada:
1 ene 2022
Resumen:
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural workers in the United States were defined by the administration of former president Donald Trump as “essential workers,” despite the fact that half of them are undocumented. Most of these workers were born in Mexico, and both the immigrants who already reside in that country and those who enter the United States temporarily with H-2A visas have continued to work to produce food for the entire population. This article analyzes the labor participation of Mexican immigrants in agricultural work in the United States during the pandemic and the socio-economic and working conditions that make them especially vulnerable to being infected with COVID-19. The study reveals that, in 2020, Mexican immigrants, in comparison with the total number of US workers, had the highest labor-force participation rate in economic activities considered essential. Despite transitioning from invisibility to visibility during the pandemic, many agricultural workers constitute a population that is highly vulnerable to the coronavirus, especially those who are undocumented and do not have health insurance. Moreover, many workers have different comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and obesity, that constitute risk factors for COVID-19. ©2022 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Filiaciones:
Alarcón R.:
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
Ramírez-García T.:
Catedrático CONACYT Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelos, campus Cuernavaca, Mexico
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