Por Sylvia Regan
Paralegal de investigación
Farmworkers, like everyone else, deserve to work safely, with fair pay, without fear, and with dignity. But the reality is the industrial food system often deprives farmworkers of their legal and human rights. Isolation and power imbalance make it hard for workers to advocate for better treatment.
Every day, workers’ rights are violated in the dominant food system, which relies on exploiting workers for maximum profit. Much of this abuse happens far out of most of our sight: in remote fields and agricultural labor camps. Those who profit from exploitation prefer to keep it this way.
A shocking example of the abuse farmworkers endure was revealed by a years-long federal investigation called “Operation Blooming Onion.” The investigation and indictment uncovered a yearslong conspiracy to traffic and exploit agricultural workers in the H-2A temporary worker program.
These workers were held in “modern-day slavery.” The conspirators who recruited and exploited these workers confiscated their phones and documents, stole their wages, and forced them to live in squalid labor camps surrounded by electrified fences. Threatened with a gun, workers were forced to dig up onions with their bare hands for only twenty cents a bucket. Many endured physical and sexual violence. Several died.
Operation Blooming Onion exposed a particularly brutal case of farmworker abuse, but stories like this are found all across the country. Farmworkers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation because they live and work in remote, isolated environments. Because agricultural fields are often so far from towns, many workers live in labor camps owned by their employers near their worksites. The distance, combined with long work hours and a lack of transportation, can make it extremely difficult for workers to access essential care and services.
That’s why it is so important that the people who provide services are able to reach farmworkers at their housing. When lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy, and other service providers can meet workers where they are, they can help farmworkers get the care and protection they need.
Lawyers can educate them on their rights and help them pursue legal action when their rights are violated. Medical professionals can treat injuries and illness that result from strenuous labor or subpar living conditions.
While farmworkers are often excluded from important legal protections, some laws and regulations exist to protect their rights. This includes their right to meet with service providers.
The Biden Administration finalized a rule that would guarantee seasonal workers had basic workplace protections, like the right to meet with guests in labor camps. When Republican-led states and agribusiness organizations filed lawsuits to challenge these new rules, FarmSTAND stepped in. We represent farmworkers and farmworker advocates in these cases to defend the rule. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration refuses to enforce the Biden rule or defend it in court. As the litigation continues, FarmSTAND and our clients will continue to fight for these key protections.
In 2021, the Colorado legislature passed a landmark Farmworker Bill of Rights that ensured farmworkers can access essential services free from interference or intimidation by their employers. Our allies at Colorado Legal Services Migrant Farm Worker Division knew just how important this new law was. Colorado Legal Services staff provide essential services to farmworkers in the state. They conduct outreach visits every year to labor camps to talk with workers who may need legal assistance.
CLS attorneys and staff know how hard it can be to access camps. They frequently encounter employers who attempt to scare them off, tell them they can’t visit the workers, and intimidate workers so they don’t feel safe talking to the visitors. The 2021 farmworker bill marked real progress in ensuring they could do their jobs.
But agribusiness interests didn’t like the new laws. They filed two lawsuits to try to take down the law. FarmSTAND and CLS fought back. We intervened in both cases to defend the law as constitutional and enforceable. We prevailed — both cases were dismissed.
In 2025, the Colorado legislature misguidedly stripped some protections out of the Farmworker Bill of Rights. But the legislature clearly preserved the parts of the bill that require employers to let farmworkers receive visitors at their employer-owned housing. This protection is still in place and is still enforceable.
CLS and FarmSTAND knew that we had to send a strong message to agricultural employers: You must still follow the law and allow visitors on employee housing. So, in 2025 we sued a farm and farm labor contractor in Center, Colorado for illegally obstructing CLS visits to workers at that labor camp.
No matter who the employer or the employees, the ability of workers to have visitors is essential to their dignity, safety, and First Amendment rights. Any intimidation, anywhere, is an assault on the rights of all farmworkers.
As detailed in our complaint, this isolated labor camp is surrounded by a razor wire fence. In recent years, there have been reports that workers didn’t get enough food. To support them, community members had to toss bags of food over the fence. One worker reported needing medical attention but being afraid to leave the camp. He thought doing so might cost him his job, work authorization, and livelihood.
Colorado Legal Services has long tried to provide services to workers at this labor camp. But whenever they’ve tried to visit, the camp’s agents have interrupted, eavesdropped, made unreasonable demands, and tried to intimidate CLS staff into leaving. According to the complaint, more than once, the agents suggested that female CLS staff members were sex workers, not legal professionals.
This pattern of intimidation and interference is unacceptable and it is against the law. We’ve sued this farm and labor contractor to protect the rights and dignity of Colorado’s farmworkers. The suit also aims to ensure that CLS can perform its critical work in the field.
As the summer labor season gets into swing, we’re determined to make sure CLS can do their work at this labor camp this summer even as our case proceeds in court. We’ve filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. This motion asks the court to order the employer and operator not to interfere with CLS visits.
Big Ag thrives on secrecy, hiding away its grave abuses of workers. It hopes that what cannot be seen will not be stopped, not by empowered workers, nor by advocates or government officials or concerned communities.
Outreach service workers are a key part of empowering food workers. People like the dedicated staff at CLS bridge the gap between isolated workers and the services they deserve to live a healthy, safe, and dignified life. At FarmSTAND, we are committed to using the law to protect and expand the important things that groups like CLS do for workers.