Farmworkers: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

If it looks like slavery, swims like slavery, and quacks like a slavery, then it's probably slavery.

Family around the dinner table: "Jesus, thank you for this meal!" Jesus in the field: "denada!"

White boy, athlete... In the summer after my Sophomore year in high school, I took a seemingly well paid job picking strawberries and tomatoes. I thought I would die after the first two days, but I stayed with it and learned the techniques of REAL hard work... and I lasted all of 2 weeks. The amazing Mexican women and children I worked next to have my everlasting admiration. If you haven't done it, you have no idea what it takes.

John, please cover the American foster system. I work with foster kids and every new thing I learn is something that you and your team desperately need to cover. It REALLY needs a hit from the John Oliver effect. But to give a few examples, knowing full well that this probably won't be seen: It was recognized as early as 1912 that we shouldn't be putting children into institutions and that putting kids with foster families if their original families weren't safe for them was in their best interests. Many times these days, children are taken from homes that are NOT actually abusive but merely "neglectful" though not because of failings of the parents - merely because the parents are poor, or frequently people of color. It is extremely difficult to get one's children back, but it is also difficult to properly adopt children from foster care as well, much of the time, meaning that many of the children in question wind up in legal limbo with no stable housing or stable living environment. Many states also vary their requirements for screening foster parents - some having very little, some having requirements that are excellent but excruciatingly expensive to fulfill - and in either case the requirements to pay falls on prospective foster parents. Which means that in many cases, children are EITHER put in horrible, abusive, unstable foster homes, OR put in a backlog because many states simply do not have adequate foster homes to accept them, which has led to ANOTHER problem - which is that despite that we were supposed to begin phasing out orphanages in 1920 and the last one DID close its doors in 1973, we began bringing them back in the 1980s and calling them "group homes" - some of the kids there are those who have serious mental helath issues, trauma, etc,. others are those who simply do not have placements. Many foster children who have experienced psych wards or juvie compare group homes unfavorably to the former two. We're still not done. Because many states are supposed to supply some kind of stipend for foster children to have money for after they leave the system or "age out" but it is very common for states - and frequently private agencies they hire - to straight up steal the money meant to go to those children. Alaska recently got caught up in one such scandal as it was the most brazen, but it is far from the only one. Also children in these situations can and are frequently subject to medical abuse or unnecessary use of antipsychotics for things like running away from abusive homes or fairly common trauma responses. Rehoming groups have also sprung up on facebook in which people essentially trade foster kids around when they are not getting along with the adoptive/foster parents' biological kids - this is technically not, strictly, illegal, though it is not strictly legal either. That, and hundreds of foster kids go straight up missing every year. Like we actually straight up do not know where they go. Texas is the most egregious in this regard, though it is, again, far from the ONLY one with this problem. Again, this is a system in dire need of the John oliver effect.

As a family member that comes from Mexican migrant parents who have worked in farming their whole life, thank you for this segment.

I cried watching this. I was that kid picking cherries over 40hrs a week getting $100 cause the boss said that’s all I need. Thank you John for giving the people a glimpse of what it’s like for a lot of us.

If you care about this cause, I highly recommend volunteering at your local farmworkers association (especially if you speak Spanish). It was very rewarding for me. On my first day, I went to a berry farm to sign workers up for free medical and dental appointments and make sure they had transportation to get there. I witnessed the abhorrent conditions of their "housing." They were living in horse stables with bunk beds. There was no running water. There was no adequate protection from the elements. I knew then that it wouldn't be my last day volunteering. I saw many abuses, but also so much love and humanity. The other volunteers doing their best to help. The farmworkers themselves giving everything they had to help their fellow workers. Dentists, doctors, and nurses giving their time and expertise for free. Teachers and tutors giving free English lessons with their very limited off hours. It was heartbreaking, but also amazing. Again, please consider volunteering for this very worthy cause. ❤

Most farmers actually want illegal Hispanic workers because it means they can underpay them. That farmer also knows the illegal Hispanic workers they hire can’t complain about being underpaid because they have no legal standing to complain. This type of financial abuse is very real. I personally knew people in situations like this.

As a first generation Mexican-American whose father worked in strawberry fields, thank you so much for this piece

Farm workers are truly the backbone of our country. They deserve better.

Ok when that guy said "we don't have no n words that work here" I literally almost choked on my water. Holy shit!

I am an economics professor and I share your video when I teach "labor market monopsony". Thank you for your important and meaningful work, John.

I was a child farm worker. While my friends were on summer break, I was waking up at 3am to get ready for work. I hated going back to school and getting asked, "what did you do for summer break?" My dad is still out there working the fields. Super grateful my parents taught me the value of earning a dollar. I was hesitant to watch this, but you did us justice. Thanks, John 😊

This story brought tears to my eyes. My 72 year old father is still out there to this day picking lettuce. I was once one of those underage kids picking at 14 in order to have clothes for school. Seeing the legitimate anger, outrage, and heartbreak in John's eyes during this segment hit close to home. It is way too normalized amongst the Mexicans in my community that these conditions are just part of the way things are. I'm glad a light is being shed to finally correct conditions for those still out there. My family worked hard so that I wouldn't have to, and I'm grateful I was able to do better for myself.

I come from farm workers. Thank you for your using your platform to shine a light on us.

John Oliver consistently presents solutions that can at least help with the issues he reports on. Do any of them ever get taken up and implemented? I've never understood how he, Jon Stewart or even Jordan Klepper don't just end up miserably frustrated and dejected with what they see and hear.

For six years, prior to my retirement after many years managing operations for public transportation systems, I hired H2B Visa workers - most from Haiti and Mexico - to fill our needs for seasonal drivers during the busy summer months on Cape Cod. Some local residents complained about "all those foreigners" driving our buses so I went to one meeting with a group of them and after hearing their complaints I handed out - - job applications. I told them that we would even provide paid training so they could get CDL licenses. Surprise! Not one person in the complaining group submitted an application. Want a bus to be on time on Cape Cod in the summer? Be thankful for these H2B Visa drivers - - or walk. The meeting ended more quietly than it had begun. Duh!

This hits close to home for me. I grew up as farm laborer from age 15 to 22 with my family. It was the greatest motivator to earn an education. I am now typing this from my cushy desk job as an aerospace engineer. Never forget where you come from.

I see a lot of folks here in the comments discussing their experiences as child laborers. If any one needs an ear or a kind word, this internet stranger is happy to listen to you. I love you all very much my friends

"You shalt not mistreat your hired worker". As someome that values social justice and am a person of faith, it important to stand up for workers, not only companies. Thanks, Mr. Oliver for bringing up the rampant abuse and so forth of those workers in the ag industry that feed this nation! They deserve justice and better H2-A visa protections. Shabbat Shalom.