RALEIGH, N.C. -- A labor union representing more than 9,000 farmworkers says the coronavirus pandemic has made working conditions worse for migrant laborers on North Carolina tobacco farms.

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, is calling on the multi-billion-dollar corporations that purchase tobacco from these growers to take action.

Justin Flores, the committee's vice president, says thousands of agricultural workers arrive in North Carolina each year to harvest tobacco used by the world's largest cigarette companies.

"They (companies) put a lot pressure to keep prices down, to keep quality high, that really ends up being the reason that farmworkers face such bad working conditions and wages," Flores states. "They've decided to avoid engaging about these issues, and to avoid putting the money in their supply chain to help growers improve housing, improve wages."

Groups, including the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, are asking tobacco purchasers to use their wealth and industry control to help growers implement better labor conditions. To date, Flores says, companies such as Reynolds American and Philip Morris International have refused.

Flores adds that tobacco farms in the state are retaliating against workers for speaking out about abuses, or for joining unions, by choosing not to rehire them. He says some farms have even threatened workers with not being able to come back into the United States if they complain.

"In the case of OJ Smith Farms in Whitakers, N.C., some of the workers at the farm joined our union, highlighted some really serious abuses," Flores relates. "The labor contractor there was stealing wages, was not reimbursing things properly."

In March, the contractor who supplies farm labor to O J Smith Farms was cited and fined for violating federal guest worker visa requirements.

Flores says the blacklisted workers and their families are now struggling, with no source of income during the pandemic.

"It really just shows how these companies operate to see that months into a pandemic, and they're donating a handful of masks," he points out. "They haven't said they're going to put money into improved housing, to put money into bigger housing that's less crowded."

Flores says an online petition calls for tobacco companies to work with unions to stop the blacklisting and exploitation on their contract farms. The union also backs a retailer and consumer boycott of Reynolds' e-cigarette brand, VUSE, until the company addresses these issues.

A new survey showed New York City's population of asylum-seekers is struggling, and makes suggestions for improvements.

The survey by the group Make the Road New York found along with declining access to resources and services, migrants face the impacts of Mayor Eric Adams' "30-60 day rule," which limits shelter stays for migrants and asylum-seekers from 30-60 days.

Natalia Aristazabal, deputy director of Make the Road New York, said the rule disrupts many asylum-seekers' cases.

"You have to have a steady address. If you have a change of address, you have to communicate that to USCIS and the federal government," Aristazabal explained. "But if people are being evicted after 30 to 60 days and they don't have a place to live, they're not going to be able to update the federal government as to where they're living."

She added before the rule, people had more time to find their footing, which is important because translation services are not always available.

A New York City Comptroller's report finds the rule's implementation was haphazard, since other services for migrants are insufficient. The survey found expediting work authorizations and putting city resources into baseline services could improve migrants' situations.

The survey also showed a growing part of the migrant population is from African countries.

Adama Bah, executive director of the nonprofit Afrikana, is one of many immigrant advocates who want to see more action at the federal level to help improve life for migrants in the city. Bah said misunderstandings about them hamper their progress to citizenship.

"The other part that's missing is their stories. Who is coming? Where are they coming from? These are people that are fleeing gender-based violence, civil war, climate justice issues," Bah stressed. "You have the stories are missing, you have the misunderstanding about who's coming and then frankly, Black migrants are missing from the conversation."

Some 21% of migrants surveyed were Black and the results indicate a sizable population comes from Western African countries. Bah feels there has not been enough conversation around how to support the next waves of migrants coming to the U.S.


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South Dakota ranks fifth in the nation for its rate of refugee resettlements per capita and the rate increased dramatically in the last year, according to the Immigration Research Initiative.

More refugees, or people unable to return to their home countries due to persecution, are resettling in the U.S. following historic declines during the Trump administration.

According to the Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans, South Dakota took in more than 200 refugees last year, up from about 50 the year before, representing a 320% jump. The national rate increased 135% in the same time frame.

Rebecca Kiesow-Knudsen, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, said the numbers are manageable.

"Still a pretty small number in our state and definitely a size that we feel we can responsibly integrate into the community," Kiesow-Knudsen acknowledged.

The numbers do not include arrivals through "Uniting for Ukraine," a separate federal program which resettled more than 250 individuals in the state last year. Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota is the sole resettlement agency in the state and works mostly in Sioux Falls where, Kiesow-Knudsen noted, the school districts are welcoming. But finding affordable housing is a challenge, one faced by most communities doing similar work.

Kiesow-Knudsen pointed out the Sioux Falls job market for New Americans is good and Lutheran Social Services offers a vocational English program to help them get jobs.

"If I'm going to go into the hospitality sector, as an example, what are the key English language words that I need to know and understand so that I can work with my employer successfully?" Kiesow-Knudsen suggested.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts immigration will be increasingly vital to the American workforce, as fertility rates decline. Net immigration is expected to account for all population growth starting in 2040, according to a demographic outlook the office released in January.


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Advocates for immigrants are pushing back on a bill signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in the last few days of the legislative session, modeled on a recent, controversial Texas law.

Senate File 2340 gives local law enforcement officers and judges the authority to deport undocumented immigrants.

Erica Johnson, executive director of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, argued the bill is an overreach, and said Iowa law enforcement officers are not authorized to enforce it.

"This is a pretty clear intervention into federal territory," Johnson pointed out. "U.S. immigration law is governed by federal law."

Much like the author of the Texas bill, supporters in Iowa blame the Biden administration for failing to slow illegal immigration, so the state has decided to take matters into its own hands.

Johnson contended the bill and other anti-immigrant sentiment during the just-completed legislative session target the very people Iowa, with its dwindling population, will depend on for its future workforce.

"What we need is communities that are safe, where workers have access to dignified, safe workplaces," Johnson emphasized. "The truth of what Iowa's future could be depends on immigrants and immigrant workers in our state, and unfortunately, this law could take us back, away from that possible future. "

Johnson added her organization will pursue legal ways to block the bill from taking effect in July.


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