Migrant workers’ access to medical service providers in Pennsylvania

Author: Decicco, Philip; Prakash, Jaya; Nelson, Erica; Martínez de Vedia, Gonzalo & Stoklosa, Hanni

Abstract: The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers program brings hundreds of thousands of foreign workers into the United States to work in the agricultural sector each year. It is well documented that H-2A workers are susceptible and subjected to unsafe working conditions and other workplace abuses. Employed in the agricultural sector, H-2A workers are exposed to higher rates of workplace hazards and riskier workplace settings, including risk for human trafficking. As foreign-born workers living on the same farms in which they are employed, they face language and information barriers when accessing resources outside of those provided by their employer. All these factors contribute to creating significant barriers for H-2A workers when accessing healthcare. This paper uses ArcGIS software and publicly available information to analyze the proximity and accessibility of healthcare resources to H-2A workers in Pennsylvania. We find that less than half of H-2A workers in Pennsylvania in 2021 resided within a 15-minute drive of the types of healthcare providers best suited to address their particular needs. We also posit that this methodology could be used in the future to better allocate and prioritize resources to create intervention points and address the unique needs of this at-risk worker population, including health care interventions for human trafficking victims.

Keywords: labor trafficking; geospatial analysis, human trafficking, health disparities, H2A workers, migrant workers