Summary: Reparations For The Children Of Corn

Reparations for the Children of Corn

Most, if not all Iowans have seen the signs that welcomes you into our lovely state. The sign reads, “The people of Iowa welcomes you. Iowa, fields of opportunities.” As a young girl, I liked this sign, I thought it was a lovely way to be welcomed into the state that would become my second home. The older I get, the more I realize the sign doesn’t truly live up to its intention. Immigrants are not welcomed in this state the way they should be considering their contribution to rural towns of Iowa. Undocumented agricultural workers in the state of Iowa left their homes in Mexico to follow the jobs that were taken from them due to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Hundreds of undocumented agricultural workers now work in the fields of Iowa for low wages, no access to health care, and with the uncertainty of their stay in the nation they help move forward. The United States pushed these human beings to migrate from their homes and reparations are needed to amend the harm imposed upon the Mexican people, in this case, undocumented Mexican farm workers.

Many undocumented farm workers are seen less of people because of their legal status, are paid lower wages, and suffer many injustices in silence because of their fear of deportation and retaliation.

What many folks don’t understand is that most immigrants never wanted to leave their native countries, but rather were forced to leave because of the problems the United States government have caused in foreign nations like Mexico. Their lives away from home, their families, and even freedom is quite hard in the United States. There systems of oppression that keep folks from breaking the cycle of poverty and abuse, hence, making the lives of undocumented farm workers

harder.
The Aztec Contribution to the Iowa
Aztecs are the ancestors of most of the Mexican population today. The beginning roots of the Aztec civilization can be traced back to the years between 1345 and 1521 CE. Such civilization was able to flourish and grow through the comparative advantage they had on other indigenous communities such as rich lands and good climate. These advantages drop their innovation and created their own irrigation methods, as well as farming techniques. They also domesticated corn and made it their staple grain. The usage of corn has been traced to Mexico and from there, it spread to the rest of the world. Due to their production and domestication of the crop, it made Mexico the world’s top corn growing country. Without their creation and advancement in farming, Iowa would not have been able to advance in their crop growth. Many of the advancements made during the time where indigenous population where thriving and not yet colonized. Iowa started to grow and corn in the 1850s. At the beginning, it was used to feed the animals on the farm.
Iowa’s Corn Production Benefits from Migration
According to Iowa Legal Aid, every year thousands of farm workers are hired in Iowa to work in the in the fields. Most of them come from Mexico and other states. They prefer to communicate in Spanish because their English skills aren’t the best. However, regardless if they speak English or not, their work is extremely valuable to the state of Iowa. Iowan farmers depend on farm workers for the following tasks:
• Harvest
• Detassel
• Walk beans
• Process Corn
• Work in egg production and hog confinements
Without their labor the prices for many of our fruits and vegetables would be twice as much. That’s a concept I feel like many folks don’t think about. Our fruits and vegetables didn’t just magically appear on our table and I doubt our technology will ever be as advance to the point we don’t need human labor to pick up our crops. Farm work is important and must be seen as such. According to its dictionary definition, a farmer is a person who owns and manages a farm. In my opinion, a farm should relate back to those who work, nurture, and harvest the land. If that was the case, instead of thinking of farm workers as just workers we would think of them as farmers and gain more respect.
There have been some bills passed to protect farm workers across the nation and the states, however, they’re room for lots of improvement. For example, under the 1982 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA or MSPA) requires farmers to comply with labor laws regardless if their workers are considered contractors because it’s a seasonal job in some states. This law also address how farm workers should get compensated. Farmers are required to pay them what they promise at the time of recruitment or hiring process. It also states that a farmer or supervisor cannot pay their workers any amount lower than the minimum wage in the corresponding state. At the moment, the minimum wage at the federal and state level is $7.25 an hour. There are workers earning minimum wage for labor intensive work. It doesn’t sound or seem fair at all. In Iowa, farmer offers the farm workers and their families a place to stay during their time of employment. At first, the offer sounds great and inviting, but as we take a deeper look at the conditions this may cause some families headaches and uncertainties.
In Iowa, farmers have face legal issues because of the bad treatment and conditions they offer their workers. Iowa Legal Aid has found the following to be the prominent issues they’ve faced:
• Poor work conditions
• Lack of healthcare
• Public benefits denials
• Lack of education
• Poor housing conditions
• Labor camp violations
• Domestic abuse
• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Wage claim disputes
Farm workers tend to be extremely vulnerable, therefore, are subject to make injustices. In Iowa, some of the justices have been not having water or bathrooms available in the field for workers. There was a case where the farmer offered housing to their workers and the establishment had a poor drain system, exposed wires, and other safety issues. Another prominent issue is discrimination, this issue has been between the supervisor and migrate workers. Farmers have faced law suits when their supervisors give a different treatment to non-migrant workers than migrant workers. Lastly, wage claims disputes are common because farm workers are often denied of payment for their labor or are being paid less than what the farmer promised during the recruitment or hiring process. In the state, there’s only one organization working to represent farm workers with claims of abuse and violence against them and their families.