Big Ag’s business model relies on having an inexpensive and easily-controlled labor force to exploit. One way Big Ag facilities find vulnerable workers is by deceiving foreign citizens into traveling to the U.S. on J-1 exchange visas, advertising an educational internship when, in reality, they intend to use them for cheap, general labor.
That’s what happened to three Guatemalans who were enticed to the U.S. with false promises of professional development and educational advancement, only to end up doing the hardest and most hazardous labor at Livingston Enterprises, an industrial swine facility. These men used up their savings and borrowed money in order to pursue this opportunity, only for Livingston to put them to work performing often dangerous labor for low wages in its confined animal feeding operations. They also were placed in living conditions far inferior to what they were promised, and were told by Livingston that they should not seek treatment for serious injuries.
Represented by FarmSTAND, Legal Aid of Nebraska, and Radford Scott LLP, these three Guatemalan men are suing Livingston Enterprises and Worldwide Farmers Exchange, the company that deceptively recruited them. The lawsuit targets a practice that has allowed employers like Livingston to exploit the J-1 visa program for profit, and alleges that these enterprises violated federal trafficking, racketeering, and civil rights laws, as well as state laws.
In April 2025, FarmSTAND filed a Freedom of Information Act action against the State Department, which manages the J-1 visa program and has failed to respond properly to a 2024 FOIA request. FarmSTAND is seeking information about how the defendants in Alvarado have been using the J-1 visa program and what, if any, oversight the State Department has exercised over that use.