V Encuentro Proceedings and Conclusions

Proceedings and Conclusions of the V National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry | 129 » » Six other dioceses have at least 40,000 workers in food production, even though they are less than 10% of the workforce: Raleigh, Boise, Stockton, Atlanta, Savannah, and Dubuque. » » Enforcement of legal work requirements in this industry is very lax, allowing owners to exploit undocumented workers to do physically demanding jobs that U.S. citizens are unwilling to do, without workplace protections. • In the transportation-related occupations: » » Approximately 5.5 million residents of the United States are in a travel-related occupation. Most are truck drivers (over 4 million). There are not large differences in the share of all workers in these occupations across states; typically, about 3% of all those employed are in transportation-related jobs. » » There are about half a million Latino truck drivers, making them the largest minority group in the long- haul truck industry. 25 • In the fair and carnival industry: » » The H-2B visa program, a descendant of the exploitative and highly criticized “ Bracero ” program, allows for the temporary admission of workers to the U.S. to compete for non-agricultural work when U.S. workers are unavailable or unwilling to fill those jobs. » » Each year, thousands of workers travel to the U.S. on H-2B visas, with approximately 5,000 of those working in the fair and carnival industry. These fair and carnival industry companies, with significant political clout from their lobbying efforts, rely primarily on migrant workers to engage in the physically demanding, dangerous, and time-intensive work that enables their fairs to run smoothly and profitably. » » Workers with H-2B visas are extremely vulnerable in a system that is ripe for fraud and abuse. They are frequently subjected to: deceptive recruitment practices and high pre-employment fees and costs; wages far below the minimum wage and overtime pay rates; minimal or no access to legal and medical services; substandard housing; and hazardous and dangerous conditions. 26 • In the civil aviation industry: » » There are more than 250,000 civil aviation workers in the United States. » » Hispanics make up about 7% of all aircraft pilots and flight engineers, as well as 10% of flight attendants and 17% of passengers. 27 » » There are many different kinds of human trafficking victims, with Latinos making a signification portion or even the majority in the boldfaced areas: escort services, health and beauty, illicit massage, outdoor solicitation, residential, domestic work, bars, strip clubs and cantinas, pornography, traveling sales crews, restaurants and food service, peddling and begging, agriculture and animal husbandry, personal sexual servitude, construction, hotels and hospitality, landscaping, illicit activities, arts and entertainment, commercial cleaning services, factories and manufacturing, remote interactive sexual acts, carnivals, forestry and logging, healthcare, and recreational facilities. III. Top Recommendations from the National Encuentro • Utilize the specific demographic and Catholic worship site inventory studies on ministry to Hispanic/Latino human mobility in your area, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) for the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers, in pastoral planning. 25 S&C Advertising & Public Relations, “Filling the Gaps in the Road,” 2005. 26 American University and El Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Mexico , “Taken for a Ride: Migrant Workers in the U.S. Fair and Carnival Industry,” February 2013. 27 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, ( https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11. htm ) and Ipsos Public Affairs, Status of Air Travel in the USA , 2016. Ministerial Area Sessions