Recent content from Christopher Vondracek
Minnesota rains mean 'some real agony' as farmers lose crops
Heavy rain comes after observers already measured "surplus" moisture for more than half the state's topsoil.
Minnesota farm fields are waterlogged, complicating growth
In the state's Lake Country, many fields are filling with rainwater, a stark change from a year ago.
Mexican migrant workers face low wages, cartel violence after layoffs in Minnesota
The bankruptcy of a southwestern Minnesota pork plant left many people holding debts. The workers on H-2B visas felt stiffed on the pledged income and powerless as they were forced to move suddenly.
Bringing your cow to the county fair? Beware new bird flu protocols.
Just in time for fair season, when thousands of animals will be exhibited, a dairy herd in Minnesota tested positive for H5N1.
Minnesota cattle company sued over scheme to 'disguise' operations to hide from creditors
Lawsuit alleges the owner put his college-aged daughter in charge of a feedlot in Olivia — among the state's largest — to avoid paying $2 million to an Omaha firm.
Trabajadores temporales en un dilema: mantener a su familia junta o trabajar para vivir
Algunos trabajadores legales terminaron en los campos petroleros de Texas, otros en instalaciones alimentarias en Michigan. Una persona con visa H-2B llegó a una granja lechera y mantienen a tres hijos en México y a un recién nacido en Estados Unidos. "Es una pena".
Promesas rotas que destrozan el sueño americano de los trabajadores
Los trabajadores con visas H-2B se sintieron estafados por los sueldos prometidos y sufrieron impotencia ya que los forzaron a mudarse de un momento a otro.
Mantuvieron en operación este matadero en Minnesota; después quebró y los trabajadores terminaron abandonados
Cientos de trabajadores legales de HyLife en Windom fueron despedidos; provenían de Salvatierra, una ciudad Mexicana plagada de crimen y pobreza. El cierre de la planta reveló una laguna en el sistema de visas estadounidense y sumió varias vidas en un torbellino.
Guest workers torn between holding family together and making a living
Some legal workers ended up in Texas oilfields, others at a Michigan food plant. One H-2B visa holder landed at an Iowa dairy, providing for three kids in Mexico and her American-born baby. "It's sadness."
They kept this Minnesota slaughterhouse running. Then it went bust, abandoning workers.
HyLife in Windom laid off hundreds of legal workers from Salvatierra, a Mexican city plagued by crime and poverty. The plant's failure revealed a gap in the U.S. visa system, throwing lives into turmoil.