ABSTRACT

Deemed by the federal government as “essential” to the country, immigrant field and dairy workers were told to keep working despite statewide stay-at-home directives in New York State. Undocumented workers that might choose not to comply would risk the loss of employment (with no access to unemployment benefits due to their immigration status) and eviction from employer provided housing. Due to the nature of working and living conditions on farms, social distancing among farmworkers is nearly impossible and farmworkers were not provided with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) until infections were at an alarmingly high rate in NYS. Once infected, farmworkers were directed to contact County Health Departments that were frequently unfamiliar with the farmworker population and often lacked the necessary language or cultural competency skills to provide services to that community. Local community members expressed opinions that immigrant farmworkers were transmitters of the virus contributing to high levels of fear and mistrust in rural communities. Trusted organizations such as the Cornell Farmworker Program (CFP) mobilized to provide information, PPE, and other needed supports during the coronavirus pandemic. To support these efforts, the Cornell Farmworker Program transitioned from face-to-face interactions to large-scale two-way communications through cell phones and text messages and partnered with Finger Lakes Community Health, a federally designated migrant farmworker health provider to bridge the gaps in rural health provision to farmworkers.

摘要

尽管联邦政府在纽约州制定了全民待命指令，但联邦政府将其视为该国的“基本”条件，要求移民现场和奶业工人继续工作。可能选择不遵守规定的无证件工人将面临失去工作（由于移民身份而无法获得失业救济）和被雇主提供的住房驱逐的风险。由于农场的工作和生活条件的性质，在农场工人之间几乎不可能实现社会疏远，并且直到纽约州的感染率达到惊人的高水平时，才为农场工人提供个人防护设备（PPE）。一旦被感染，指示农民工联系经常不熟悉农民工并且常常缺乏必要的语言或文化能力才能为该社区提供服务的县卫生部门。当地社区成员表示，移民农民工是该病毒的传播者，导致农村社区高度恐惧和不信任。诸如康奈尔农场工人计划（CFP）之类的受信任组织动员起来，在冠状病毒大流行期间提供信息，个人防护装备和其他所需的支持。为了支持这些努力，康奈尔农场工人计划从面对面的互动过渡到通过手机和短信进行的大规模双向交流，并与Finger Lakes Community Health合作，