Report by Betty Akoh et al. The Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice.
July 2020.
COVID-19 has had a disparate effect across racial and ethnic groups in the community of Immokalee, Florida. Immokalee residents are mostly Latinx, while Collier County is a majority white county. There are 15,000 to 20,000 migrant farmworkers in Immokalee – a statistical outlier when compared to Collier County as a whole. Immokalee, an agricultural community home to many farmworkers, has experienced a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases compared to the rest of Florida.
Farmworkers were deemed “essential workers” by Florida governor Ron DeSantis and have thus been required to work throughout the pandemic. Why is it that despite being one of the most significant contributors to the US agricultural economy and food/retail sector, the Immokalee community of farmworkers were thrown into the line of fire during the pandemic? Immokalee remains one of the most significant COVID-19 epicenters in the United States. As “essential workers” on the frontlines, it is imperative that we fully understand the legal and economic conditions that explain why Immokalee farmworkers lacked access to legal protections and to care. Why does this matter? What can Immokalee reveal about the shared challenges facing workers during the pandemic across the United States and beyond? How have advocacy efforts of prominent organizations such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) fared during this time of crisis and what must be done to strengthen emergency response during the pandemic?
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