H-2 WORKER is a controversial exposé of the travesty of justice that takes place around the shores of Florida's Lake Okeechobee—a situation which, until the film's release, has been one of America's best-kept secrets. For six months a year, over 10,000 men from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands perform the brutal task of cutting sugar cane by hand, a job so dangerous and low-paying that Americans refuse to do it. These men live and work in conditions reminiscent of the days of slavery on sugar plantations: housed in overcrowded barracks, poorly fed, denied adequate treatment for their frequent on-the-job injuries, paid less than minimum wage, and deported if they do not do exactly as they are told. The scandal of the H-2 program has existed for over 45 years, largely kept out of the public eye, and the sugar companies and their government supporters have escaped accountability. H-2 WORKER is the first documentary to tell the story of these men—named for their special temporary guestwork "H-2" visas.
Link to resources on agricultural issues.
Available for the first time ever, this DVD includes an 18 minute video update made in 2009 about the present expansion of H-2A and H-2B guestworker programs in the U.S.