Mississippi farms pay overdue wages for favoring immigrants over local Black workers, agency says

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Labor Department says 44 farms in Mississippi exploited local Black workers by paying higher wages to immigrants on temporary work visas. The department announced it completed investigations in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest areas of the U.S. The 44 farms include catfish growers and operations that raise rice, soybeans and corn. They have paid more than $505,000 in back wages for 161 workers, plus nearly $342,000 in civil penalties. In December, two agriculture businesses in the Delta settled lawsuits filed on behalf of local Black farmworkers over claims that farms hired white laborers from South Africa and paid them more than the local Black employees.