Unemployment insurance for immigrants falls short in Washington Legislature
As an agricultural worker in Wapato, Washington, Sandra D. works with her husband to support her three children.
Like many immigrants, Sandra came to the United States looking for a better life for herself and her family. She grew up in poverty in Michoacan, Mexico and her family couldn’t afford to pay for her education past elementary school so Sandra started working in agriculture at age 10.
Her workdays sometimes start at 4 a.m. to avoid the Yakima Valley’s hot temperatures in the summer, Sandra said in an interview in Spanish. The Standard is not identifying her by her full name because of her legal status. She, like many farm workers in the region, is usually paid minimum wage — $16.66 an hour in Wapato — to do labor-intensive work for 40 hours a week.
But agricultural labor is dependent on harvests, which typically fall from March to November. In the winter, it’s hard for Sandra to find employment in the fields, making it difficult to get by.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/11/unemployment-insurance-for-immigrants-falls-short-in-washington-legislature/