Migrant workers heavily exploited in U.S.: Brookings Institution

NEW YORK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- There are serious violations of labor standards in the United States as well, and nowhere more than with the employment of migrants in U.S. agriculture exports, according to a commentary published by The Brookings Institution on Tuesday.

"For the U.S. fairly and credibly to insist that firms in Mexico comply with basic labor standards, it must demand the same regarding the treatment of workers in its own traded industries," said the article.

The protection of labor rights is central to sustainable and inclusive supply chains under the USMCA (The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), according to the article.

U.S. fruits and vegetables for export are harvested by migrants under conditions that violate core labor standards, it noted.

"Migrants work in the aspects of agriculture that are too difficult or too expensive to automate. They are paid wages below the minimum, exposed to pesticides and relentless heat, crowded in housing not fit for humans, and subjected to sexual harassment and violence," it said.

Critically, U.S. immigration law is structured in ways that coerce migrants into continuing to work despite these violations of their rights, creating a climate ripe for forced labor, it added.