Testimony for Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers

On July 15th, the Director of the FXB Center Program on Immigrants and Unhoused Communities, Dr. Margaret (Maggie) Sullivan, testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue on behalf of An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers (S.2011). Her testimony, which was submitted in her personal capacity and in coordination with the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition, is available below. This is the third time that the Act is being considered, Dr. Sullivan also provided testimony in 2023 and 2021. For more information about her prior testimony on a different bill related to immigrant health, please click here.

By Margaret Sullivan, FNP-BC, DrPH, FAAN
Instructor, Director of the FXB Center Program on Immigrants and Unhoused Communities

Testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue on July 15, 2025 

Honorable Members of the Joint Committee on Revenue, 

Thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony in support of An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers, S.2012. These remarks are my own. My name is Maggie Sullivan and I’m a board-certified family nurse practitioner at a community health center in Boston where I’ve been providing primary care for more than 15 years to many patients who are immigrants. I have a doctorate in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where I now direct the Program on Immigrants and Unhoused Communities at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. I am also a Clinical Consultant for the Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program where I have the honor of supporting the essential work of delivering health services to thousands of farmworkers in Massachusetts. After my clinical training, I had the privilege of completing a fellowship in farmworker health in the Salinas Valley of California. I have a deep and abiding respect and gratitude for the difficult work farmworkers do. 

The health of farmworkers is characterized by the hazards and dangers inherent to their work as well as by conditions of poverty. Agriculture is persistently one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. It has the highest incidence of fatal and non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses [i],[ii]. Farmworkers are exposed to chemicals and pesticides known to cause nerve, skin, and respiratory illnesses, and certain cancers. Every summer, farmworkers face dangerous exposure to heat and are at risk of heat-related exhaustion, stroke and sometimes death. 

In addition to facing significant occupational hazards, most farmworkers live and work in conditions of poverty. Hunger and food insecurity are prevalent and well-documented [iii], [iv], [v], [vi]. Farmworkers who I have worked with are unable to afford the nutritious foods which they help to put on our tables. I see this lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and weight problems – not just for themselves but for their families. Farmworkers in our region who get care at community health centers have more uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes than the average person in the US [vii]. They regularly forgo medical care and work while being sick or injured because they cannot afford to sacrifice even a few hours away from earning and worry about losing their jobs. This delays diagnoses, treatment, and makes managing disease much more difficult. I have had patients ration or not pick up their prescription medications because they cannot afford even nominal co-pays; their health conditions deteriorate. The massive stressors of working in poverty can lead to depression, anxiety, and cause significant strain on family relationships. Poverty is making farmworkers sick and just as these conditions of poverty have been created, then can also be undone. 

Explicitly including farmworkers in state labor law protections will reduce severe poverty in Massachusetts and improve individual, family, and public health. Poverty has real and material impacts on health. Farmworkers deserve the dignity and respect of health-protecting labor standards that’s afforded to others (and hopefully our own selves) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I urge you to favorably report An Act Establishing Fairness for Agricultural Laborers: S.2012. 

[The above represents solely my own views and does not necessarily represent the views of the institution.]

Painting of farmworkers in a green field dotted with red. Artwork by Diego provided courtesy of the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition.
Artwork by Diego. Provided courtesy of the Fairness for Farmworkers Coalition of Massachusetts.

[i] NCFH. Agricultural Worker Occupational Health and Safety. Last updated 2018. Available from: http://www.ncfh.org/occupational-health-and-safety.html 

[ii] Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. News Release: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2020. Available from: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/osh_11032021.pdf 

[iii] Hill BG, Moloney AG, Mize T, et al. Prevalence and Predictors of Food Insecurity in Migrant Farmworkers in Georgia. American Journal of Public Health. 2011, 101(5):831-833. 

[iv] Kiehne E & Mendoza NS. Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Food Insecurity: Prevalence, Impact, Risk Factors and Coping Strategies. Social Work in Public Health. 2015, 30:397-409. 

[v] Quandt SA, Arcury TA, Early J, et al. Household Food Security Among Migrant and Seasonal Latino Farmworkers in North Carolina. Public Health Reports. 2004, 119:568-576. 

[vi] National Center for Farmworker Health. Food Insecurity among Agricultural Communities. Last updated 2021. Available from: http://www.ncfh.org/new-fact-sheet.html#_ednref6 

[vii] UDS 2024 data, Bureau of Primary Health Care. 

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