US to pay $6.5 million in lost wages to 13,000 Mexican migrants

• 13,000 Mexican migrant workers are owed $6.5 million.
• Mexican ministry and the US Department of ILAB are implementing the H-2A Workers’ Earnings Recovery Program.
• It is unclear who employed these people and for how long they worked.

Some 13,000 Mexican migrant workers are owed $6.5 million in unpaid wages, according to a tweet from the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, which announced a joint effort with Mexico to locate and compensate the workers.

“This program will return millions of dollars in back wages to Mexican nationals who participated in US temporary foreign worker programs,” tweeted Ken Salazar, the United States Ambassador to Mexico, on Tuesday.

Salazar noted that the Mexican ministry and the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs are implementing the H-2A Workers’ Earnings Recovery Program to ensure that workers receive their pay.

Backbone of America

Skilled foreign agricultural laborers are the backbone of American agriculture, and they are frequently in the country on H-2A seasonal visas. It is unclear who employed these people and for how long they worked when they did not receive their full salaries.

According to a news release from Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the money owed to these thousands of workers was recovered by the US Department of Labor after it was unable to identify the individuals in order to distribute their checks.

The partnership will attempt to locate the migrant workers who are believed to have “received less than the legally established salary from their employers in the United States,” according to a press release by Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.

The United States is anticipated to deliver Mexico a list of workers who are “owed wages and overtime.” Mexico will next search official databases for the personnel and notify them of their checks.

“Together, we watch over labor rights,” Mexico’s Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Luisa Alcalde tweeted on Tuesday.

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