North Carolina hosts nearly 30,000 H-2A Seasonal Farmworkers each year, which is the fifth highest population in the country. Across the US, there are over 300,000 H-2A visa holders – 10-15% of America’s agricultural workforce.

The early sun brings blistering summer heat as Yordi Orozco gets instructions for the workday on a tobacco farm near Wilson, NC.

"When you are going as fast as you can for so long, you start to get a rhythm – that's what keeps you going," said Lucio Rivera. "The stopping is what makes it hard sometimes."

Farmworkers are virtually invisible in their surroundings and are most often seen by the outside world in the fields.

During the summer, crews start work at or before dawn to maximize the hours before temperatures climb too high.

Workers look for pears from a neighbor’s tree after a day of harvesting tobacco on a farm in Selma, NC.

A newly arrived crew of farmworkers bring groceries and homewares from Walmart back to the camp. Each year, farmworkers more or less restart their lives in North Carolina.

A group of farmworkers check out a vender’s merchandise at the Brightleaf Flea market in Smithfield, North Carolina – one of the largest in the state. A popular destination for farmworkers and Latino families alike during the growing season, Mexican-run flea markets or pulgas, have sprung up across Eastern North Carolina recent years as the state’s Latino population has grown.

A priest from a Catholic church east of Raleigh gives blessings after a mass he led at a work camp. Despite high levels of spirituality among H-2A Farmworkers, access to religion is extremely limited for this group. Given the heavy workload during the growing season and the remote locations of camps, it is challenging for church officials to reach workers while they are in North Carolina.

The H-2A Program represents a pathway to the Mexican middle class for visa holders, who primarily come from rural Mexico, where the daily pay for agricultural work is $30/day. In one season, an H-2A Farmworker can earn up to $25,000, however, across the system average earnings are closer to $15,000, as workloads vary widely from crop to crop.

The Lady of Guadeloupe and other religious symbols appear in different forms, particularly in older work camps.

Host farms are required to have one shower for every 15 farm workers on the crew, which leads to long waits to bathe after work.

Accommodations are typically bunk-style structures that provide little privacy to farmworkers during their stays in America.

Pascal Martinez enters the Mexican consulate in Raleigh, NC to vote in Mexico’s 2024 Presidential Election – the first election where Mexican nationals could submit an absentee ballot. “I was grateful to play my part in the election for the first time,” said Martinez, who has been in the H-2A Program for 22 years. “It gave me a lot of pride to finally select my representation because it’s our right – one I didn’t have because I was here.”

Throughout the season, farmworkers descend upon Walmart Super Centers across Eastern North Carolina to get groceries for the week. During the height of the season, many crews work seven days a week, leaving a small window for farmworkers to get what they need to survive the following week.

Old school buses owned by host farms and driven by crew leaders are used to ferry farmworkers from camps to the field or excursions to Walmart.

After a couple months of works, Victor Martinez says, “all I want to do is sleep, but it never really stops.” Martinez has been working for Sharp Farms, Wilson, NC, for nine seasons.

Farmworkers move past a forgotten grave in a cornfield.

H-2A worker groups are run by crew leaders who supervise the majority of the day-to-day operations. Generally, these workers are those who have been at the farm longer or have greater English proficiency.

Wages are not guaranteed during the growing season and farmworkers must borrow money against their wages to afford groceries during weeks when there is no work

Hugo Alvarado has worked at a tobacco farm in Sims, North Carolina for 10 years. His goal is to leave the program in two years so he can be in Mexico when his 8-year-old son, Cesar, turns 10.

Escaping temperatures in the mid to upper 90s is difficult during the 15-hour days.

Heat and dust consume farmworkers during the sweet potato planting in June and July.

A couple members of a crew will handle haircuts for the rest of the group, typically charging $5-10.

Adrian Magana and Martin Vincente prepare shrimp for a Veracruzano recipe Adrian learned from his late mother. For Adrian, cooking is something that makes him feel closer to home during the months he spends in North Carolina.

Farmworkers hang out at the work camp on a Saturday evening.

A crew of farm workers ride in silence to the fields to start a day of corn harvest in Eastern North Carolina.

For field crops such as cucumbers, sweet potatoes and squash, farmworkers are paid a piece rate of 50 cents a bucket harvested. This pay rate has not increased since the 1950s across America’s Southeast.

Mexican-owned catering services often are hired to provide meals to farmworkers in the field. Growers will sign a contract with a particular family for lunch and dinner for their workers for the entire growing season.

Balde Hernandez, who is from a small village in Veracruz, Mexico, has been working at Kornegay Farms in Eastern North Carolina for 8 years. He sees himself working at the farm for another 10 years and then hopes to stay in Mexico and start his own business.

A crew wraps up a 14-hour day planting sweet potatoes in Eastern North Carolina. H-2A Farmworkers are not eligible for overtime pay and typically work between 60-80 hours a week.

Pickup soccer games are the primary form of recreation at workcamps on Sunday afternoons.

Farmworkers live on relative islands as host farms are typically 20 to 30 miles from the nearest town. At smaller camps, workers rarely have their own transport and typically leave their housing for communal trips to buy groceries or to work.

Host farms provide housing for workers while they are in the US. Conditions vary greatly from farm to farm with some crews living in bunk-style housing and other groups occupying old farmhouses. Throughout the system, housing is generally crowded and somewhat dilapidated.