JACKSON, Miss. — Investigations by the U.S. Labor Department have revealed that 44 farms in Mississippi have been paying higher wages to immigrants on temporary work visas than to local Black workers. These findings were released following investigations initiated last year in the Mississippi Delta, known for being among the poorest regions in the U.S.

The involved farms, which include catfish growers and producers of crops like rice, soybeans, and corn, have now compensated a total of $505,540 in back wages to 161 workers, in addition to paying $341,838 in civil penalties.

Audrey Hall, the district director of the Wage and Hour Division in Jackson, Mississippi, stated, “This situation in the Mississippi Delta involved a significant number of marginalized farmworkers being denied their lawful wages. In some cases, U.S. workers’ rights were violated due to preferential treatment given to temporary guest workers.”

This announcement comes six months after two Delta agricultural businesses settled lawsuits alleging discrimination against local Black farmworkers. These lawsuits claimed that the farms employed white laborers from South Africa, paying them higher wages than local Black workers for similar jobs.

The Labor Department’s investigations uncovered multiple violations of the H-2A visa program requirements by these employers. These violations included failure to pay appropriate wages to U.S. workers, non-disclosure of employment conditions, inaccuracies in anticipated work hours and bonus opportunities, unlawful pay deductions, lack of reimbursement for travel expenses, and non-compliance with recordkeeping mandates.

The Mississippi Center for Justice, which filed one of the lawsuits settled last year, worked in collaboration with the Labor Department to support the affected workers. Juan Coria, a regional administrator based in Atlanta, highlighted this partnership.

Hall commended the local Black farmworkers for their bravery in exposing these issues. “Their courage has been instrumental in ensuring workers across the Delta finally receive their long overdue wages,” she remarked.