Fighting for Workers in Virginia

Imagine this: You’ve signed a contract to come to the U.S. as part of an official federal program that allows you to work on a specific farm (called H-2A work visas), for a set span of time, for a certain number of hours a week, and at a specific pay rate. You’ve been told you will be provided with safe and adequate living and working conditions. 

However, once you arrive, the employer—who is also perhaps your sole point of contact in the country—confiscates your passport and ID, houses you in deplorable conditions, provides inadequate food, and forces you to work hours upon hours of unpaid overtime. The employer warns you that speaking out or leaving the farm will lead to being fired and deported.  

What do you do? 

Alarmingly, the exploitation and abuse of H-2A migrant workers is not uncommon or new. Our team at LAJC has been fighting back against labor traffickers in Virginia for decades, helping workers reclaim what they are owed and holding employers accountable.  

We recently settled a case on behalf of more than 350 H-2A workers who experienced extensive abuse at the hands of the Las Princesas labor contracting company. For years, this company took advantage of the limited rules and oversight of the visa program to traffic and exploit workers in both Virginia and North Carolina.  

When some brave workers came to LAJC for help, our team took action, brought their employer to court, and secured a favorable settlement. Today, each of the hundreds of workers involved in Las Princesas’ brutal scheme is eligible to receive compensation for their labor and mistreatment, and the company is now barred from using the H-2A visa system.  

You can read more about this case in a recent Virginia Pilot article, here. 

We continue to fight on behalf of migrant workers trapped by corrupt and exploitative employers while advocating for stronger oversight and enforcement of work visa programs. As we round out the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session, we are closer than ever to passing key legislation that benefits farmworkers across the Commonwealth. A bill to remove the Jim Crow-era farmworker exemption from minimum wage is headed to the Governor’s desk. Additionally, another bill that protects Virginia’s workers from heat stress, including farmworkers and H-2A workers, is also progressing through the legislature.  

Follow along here and on our social media pages for updates on legislation, ways you can take action, and information about the other work happening at LAJC to advance justice.