Tina Vasquez

She managed to get a temporary farmworker visa. Once in the U.S., she endured abuse and exploitation.agricultural labor where they face sexual violence and trafficking. A Prism investigation reveals that women are routinely shut out of the H-2A program, and when they are granted visas, they report being funneled into non-agricultural labor where they face sexual violence and trafficking September 24th, 2025 Credit: Illustration by Rommy Torrico It took more than 12 hours for Isabella to travel across her native Mexico from the coastal community she called home to the consulate in Monterrey, an industrial epicenter in the northeastern state of Nuevo León. Like millions of Mexican workers who came before her, Isabella’s consulate visit in 2020 was the final hurdle before the U.S. government granted what felt like a small miracle: a coveted H-2A visa that allows workers, the vast majority of whom are from Mexico, to traverse the border for lawful employment in the U.S. as seasonal agricultural workers. Prior to President Donald Trump’s second term, American employers could request workers from 86