Transnational Circularity and Vulnerability: The Duality of the H-2A Program

This study explores circular, transnational H-2A labor migration between Northern Veracruz, Mexico, and Washington state, USA. While the H-2A program offers a regulated alternative to unauthorized immigration and provides economic opportunity for foreign workers, concerns persist. As employers increasingly outsource low-wage labor through unregulated third-party recruitment agencies, workers face heightened risks of exploitation and abuse, both during transit and in the U.S. This qualitative research, based on in-depth interviews and focus groups with 12 indigenous and mestizo farmworkers who participated in the H-2A program, highlights issues in recruitment, working conditions, and abuse. The findings confirm existing concerns about guest worker vulnerability and also suggest gaps in the literature on temporary labor migration. New insights include the potential of “mobile enclave” recruitment in collective cultures and the introduction of a migratory pathways assessment tool. With increasing H-2A job certifications and recruitment expanding into indigenous territories in Central America, the study calls for greater oversight and accountability in foreign labor regulations and recruitment processes, emphasizing the importance of migrant worker agency and community autonomy.