Introduction
Two fathers and their sons traveled from Mexico this spring to grow and harvest North Carolina’s sweet potatoes, tobacco, Christmas trees and other crops. All four men held temporary H-2A nonimmigrant visas permits U.S. employers use to sponsor foreign guest workers to fill seasonal labor shortages on farms.
In August, one of the fathers died of COVID-19. The other died weeks later. After both were buried in Mexico, their sons dutifully returned to North Carolina to keep working under their visas because they needed the income. The twin tragedies, details of which were confirmed by the Center for Public Integrity through state records and interviews, lay bare the contradictions of the 34-year-old H-2A program.