Insights and Analyses

• Wage disparities persist among California’s workers. In 2021, the median hourly wage for California's immigrant workers was lower at $24, compared to U.S.-born workers at $30. 

• Wage inequities grow wider for immigrants depending on their immigration status. Across the state, in 2021, the median hourly wage for naturalized immigrants was $28, compared to $24 for lawful residents, and $16 for undocumented immigrants.

• California relies on its care sector, most of whom are women of color, to address the needs of its growing aging population. Immigrants make up a large proportion of California’s care sector—about 47% of direct care workers are immigrants. In 2023, care workers earned median hourly wages well below the statewide $25 average. These hourly wages ranged from $15.60 for home health and personal care aides to $20.10 for certified nurse assistants.

• A 2023 report by the Gender Equity Policy Institute found that in 2021, undocumented women in California were paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to all men, 44 cents for every dollar paid to white men, and 87 cents for every dollar paid to undocumented men. Nationally, undocumented women face higher rates of poverty as compared to all women (about 21% and 14%, respectively) and are more likely to lack health insurance as compared to all women (49% and nearly 8%, respectively). However, undocumented women in California are less likely to experience poverty and more likely to have health insurance compared to those in other states, indicating the importance of state policy in improving economic security.

• According to a 2024 report by the Williams Institute, California is home to approximately 211,000 Latinx LGBT immigrants, 68,800 of whom do not have green cards. Their analysis of data gathered between 2015 and 2021 from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) shows that, while most Latinx LGBT immigrants without green cards were in the workforce (93%), about 64% earn below 200% of the federal poverty level.

• A 2024 report by the Williams Institute also estimates that approximately 41,000 transgender immigrants reside in California. Their analysis of CHIS data collected between 2015 to 2021, shows that among respondents, nearly 80 percent of transgender immigrants were in the workforce. Further, about one-fourth of transgender immigrants were living in poverty.

• Estimates by the Williams Institute show that Asian LGBT immigrants comprised nearly 14% of the state’s Asian LGBT adult population. Their analysis of CHIS data collected between 2015 and 2021 also revealed that while most Asian LGBT immigrants were in the workforce, nearly one-third lived below 200% of the federal poverty level. Further, nearly 40% reported they did not have a usual source of healthcare.

• According to UC Merced’s Community and Labor Center survey, a “significant proportion” of California’s farmworkers are undocumented and nearly one in five experienced wage theft. Their analysis of 2017-2022 ACS data showed that California farmworkers have seen an increase in average annual earnings and a decrease in the average number of hours worked that is likely related to the state’s implementation of farmworker overtime protections in 2019.

Though there have been some recent policy changes to protect California’s agricultural workers, there is still more work to be done to ensure this essential workforce is given the same labor protections as other industries.

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938, agricultural workers, who are largely immigrant workers, were excluded from wage protections and overtime compensation requirements that were in place for workers in other industries. This meant that farms were not required to pay overtime to workers until they worked over 10 hours in a workday or 60 hours a week, unlike other industries where overtime is paid after 8 hours in a workday or 40 hours a week. In 2016, advocates like CAUSE supported the passage and signing of AB 1066, a bill to include agricultural workers in existing California labor law that implements protections for working hours, standard meal periods, and overtime pay – benefits similar to what workers in other industries receive. As a result of this legislation, California became the first state to require employers pay overtime wages to farm workers who work beyond an 8-hour day or 40-hour workweek.

This policy change was a win in the fight toward addressing worker exploitation. However, much work remains to be done – a call answered by CAUSE, Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), and other immigrant-serving organizations in the Central Coast region. CAUSE and MICOP have supported farmworker advocacy for a living wage through the Alianza Campesina coalition, even as agricultural owners increase their usage of the H-2A visa program to expand the agricultural workforce. CAUSE has also worked to ensure food safety standards and adequate housing for H-2A workers, who have their housing, food, transportation, and immigration status controlled by their employer when they are working in the United States.

The recent wildfires across the state, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the amplified I.C.E. raids by the Trump administration have made clear that there is an urgent need for further policies to expand farmworker protections in addition to higher wages and benefits. For example, in both 2017 and later in 2020, farmworkers in the Central Coast were made to continue working outdoors even as some of the largest-ever wildfires in California history raged in the region, with many not receiving masks to protect themselves from smoke exposure. In 2017, notifications of the severity of the wildfire and smoke were only available in English at the time, but efforts by farmworker advocacy organizations have since made this vital information available to Spanish-speaking farmworkers and later expanded to include notifications in Mixteco and Zapoteco in text and audio alerts. Furthermore, mounting evidence has suggested that California’s current air pollution threshold safety standards must be stricter, as even a threshold level deemed “safe” for farmworkers still leaves them highly vulnerable to traumatic injuries and illnesses. Additionally, CAUSE, MICOP, and other community-based organizations are part of the 805 UndocuFund-led local rapid response network to address ongoing I.C.E. raids within California’s Central Coast to inform immigrant residents including farmworkers of their rights and demand local governments cease collaborating with I.C.E. to detain workers.

Photo credit: Andrew Nixon, Capital Public Radio