Going Home for Health: Immigrant Dairy Workers in the Upper Midwest, U.S.

Due to an increase in immigrants in both rural and urban areas, Wisconsin has become known as a new immigrant destination. One industry in the state that has shifted from a white workforce to a predominantly immigrant... [ view full abstract ]

Due to an increase in immigrants in both rural and urban areas, Wisconsin has become known as a new immigrant destination. One industry in the state that has shifted from a white workforce to a predominantly immigrant workforce is dairy. In the late 1990s, Wisconsin farmers began hiring immigrants, the vast majority coming from Mexico, to do the difficult work of milking cows. Previous research on immigrant dairy workers in the Upper Midwest found that workplace policies, cost, transportation, and fear due to their undocumented status presented barriers to accessing health services. This paper uses a transnational gaze and theories of scale to ask how health concerns shape the migration plans of undocumented workers. I focus on a group of undocumented migrants from Veracruz, Mexico who worked on dairy farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Data come from a transnational qualitative study of 60 dairy workers conducted between 2010 and 2012, and follow-up interviews with a subset of workers in Mexico in 2017. Results suggest that while some workers overcame health-related barriers by obtaining support through local and transnational networks, others made the decision to return home. This research reveals the importance of a transnational perspective and the analytical value of scales when examining health concerns in new immigrant destinations that lack the institutional capacity to serve migrants. It also emphasizes the critical role that health can play in return migration decision-making.