Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/series/state-of-change/)
Coburn Dukehart/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Miguel Hernandez cleans the western Wisconsin barn he has worked at for 16 years one last time before he and his family leave the United States and return to Mexico. Photo taken in Pepin County, Wis., on May 31, 2017.
There are few things more important than food and water. They sustain life and our economy. In Wisconsin, both face numerous challenges but they also offer countless opportunities. Our partner, Wisconsin Public Radio, is taking a year-long look at these precious resources. Stories will explore what food and water mean for Wisconsinites’ lives, and what they might look like in the future. Find stories on Morning Edition, The Ideas Network, and online.
Farmers, experts say reliance on immigrant workers, many of them in the U.S. illegally, will continue unless dairies — and Congress — make significant changes.
The Hernandez family and other dairy workers are heading back to Mexico amid hostile rhetoric and rising immigration arrests in the Midwest and nationwide.
Dairy farmers raise wages to attract and keep Mexican and Central American employees. Workers cite hostility and heightened enforcement.