Hope that Trump won't move against legal migrant workers

Donald Trump is expected to target undocumented immigrants, many of whom are from Central America, after taking office next week. However, what is less known is that some immigrants from these countries can legally work on US farms for a period of time.

Farm worker Sandra Noemi Bucú Saz is happy about this. She recently returned to Guatemala in Central America from the US, where she had been picking strawberries in California. "They paid us $19 (£15.60) an hour," says Sandra, "We were required to pick seven boxes an hour, and if you picked more, you got paid extra." She added, "This is a world away from what I earn in Guatemala, where I can make about $10 a day when there is work."

Sandra is one of about 5,000 Guatemalans a year who legally go to the US to work through the H-2A visa program set up by the US government for temporary agricultural workers from overseas. The program allows US farms to bring in staff from abroad if they cannot find enough local labor. These foreign workers can stay in the US for up to 12 months, after which they must return to their own countries.

For people like Sandra, it is an opportunity to improve their lives, and she can help her family by sending back part of her earnings. In Guatemala, there are now about 30 recruitment companies registered with the Guatemalan government that help people find temporary work in the US through the H-2A visa. Sandra proudly showed off a plot of land she rents in Las Tres Cruces, southern Guatemala, where she and her relatives grow corn, lettuce, beans and spinach for themselves. If there is any extra, they sell it at the local market. Sandra’s dream is to save enough money to buy a plot of land so they do not have to rent.

But first, she needs to pay off the debt she and her sister incurred when they were scammed on their first attempt to get a US visa. "We each paid $2,000 to someone because we wanted to work in the US," she says, "My sister and I thought we needed to do this to move forward and achieve our dreams. So, we borrowed money, but sadly it was a total scam, and they took our money." In Guatemala, it is common for scammers to prey on people's desperation to go to the US and trick them out of their money.

Cecilia Ochoa is the executive director of the Guatemalan branch of Cierto, a legitimate recruitment company. The company, which also has offices in the US and Mexico, is one of about 30 formally registered in Guatemala to offer H-2A visas. "Part of the reason we opened an office in Guatemala was to help locals avoid being scammed," she says. When Sandra went to the US through Cierto, she did not have to pay anything. Instead, the company is paid by the farming businesses in the US that are looking for temporary workers.

Ms. Ochoa explains, "It's very important for us that we establish a good connection between the business and the worker, and that the wages and contracts they are offered are real." Although the H-2A visa allows Guatemalans to legally find temporary farm work in the US, it is estimated by the Pew Research Center think tank that there are more than 675,000 undocumented Guatemalans in the US. In addition, 200,000 people tried to enter the US without valid documents in the 12 months up to last September. This is the third largest group after Mexicans and Venezuelans.

Olga Romero lives near the town of Olopa in north-eastern Guatemala. She has seven children, two of whom are working in the US without visas. "It's an impoverished area, and it's difficult to find work, and families often pay $2,000 to $3,000 to a person known as a 'coyote' to take them to the US illegally," says Olga. A big problem is that to raise this money, many families need to take out loans against the value of their houses. If the money is not paid back, they could lose their property. And this often happens because their successful arrival in the US is far from guaranteed, with the risk of accidents along the way, or they could be deported at the US border.

But the rewards are also high. The money that loved ones send back from the US, known as remittances, is propping up the Guatemalan economy. According to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank, the country received a total of $19.8 billion in remittances from abroad in 2023. President Donald Trump has vowed to crack down on undocumented immigrants and has threatened mass deportations. But it is not yet clear whether he will move to restrict or even stop the H-2A and other temporary foreign worker visa programs.

Vanessa Garcia, the executive director of the recruitment organization Juan Francisco Garcia Comparini Foundation, is optimistic that such visas will continue. The foundation helps about 200 Guatemalans a year to work in the US through H-2A visas. These farm workers help harvest lettuce, cauliflower, spinach and beans. "I think that the opportunity for Guatemalans to get H-2A visas will continue and might even increase," she says, "I'm not worried, I think it's a good opportunity for the workers."

Joe Martinez, the US founder and CEO of Cierto, says that while he expects the visa program to continue under Trump, the rights of foreign workers may be eroded. "Cierto is concerned that efforts to streamline and reduce bureaucratic processes could lead to the program having less protection and oversight of the workers." He worries that farm workers' wages could go down, and their living conditions on US farms could deteriorate.

In Guatemala, Hector Benjamin Sóc Sal says that he has been to the US twice to work through the H-2A visa. Most recently, he was growing vegetables in a greenhouse. He says he was inspired by his family. "I want them to do better than me in their studies," he says, "I dropped out of school when I was young to work in the fields. Before I got this job, it seemed like my daughter would not be able to complete her final year of accounting studies because we couldn't afford it, but now I've paid for it, and she is training to be an accountant."