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NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

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Farmworkers

Farmworkers’ living and working conditions are dangerously inadequate. They face extreme poverty, endure dangerous working conditions, and struggle to enter into an immigration system that has historically targeted immigrants of color. The majority of farmworkers in the United States are immigrants from Mexico. The ones who feed America are immigrants of color who are often taken advantage of and exploited for cheap labor.

Our work at the Council focuses on advocating for legislation that enacts equitable and positive change. We are members of the Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN) Coalition.

Overview

Farmworkers do backbreaking work, often in dangerous conditions for little pay. We believe that everyone, no matter their occupation, should be safe on the job, so we’ve been working to help improve living and working conditions for our state’s thousands of farmworkers for decades.

The Council worked for labor and housing protection for migrant farmworkers when many of them were African-Americans traveling up and down the East Coast. Our commitment to farmworkers has continued even as their demographics have changed to a primarily immigrant Hispanic population. Through all of this work, we live our motto: “Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice.” 

Key Contact

Sandra Pardo, Farmworker Advocacy Network Coalition Coordinator

Sandra is born and raised in Gastonia, North Carolina. She called the Blue Ridge Mountains her home whilst attending Appalachian State University, where her passion and drive for the equitable wellbeing of immigration-affected populations, communities, families and individuals was nurtured through her majoring in Social Work with a minor in Spanish, being the first in her family to pursue Higher Education as well. Sandra is a first-generation U.S born citizen, her family being from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Spanish is her first language, English their second and Portuguese her third, which she is still learning! Through their lived experiences as an immigration-affected family member, the undocumented experience is one that has shaped Sandra to be a helping professional even before she knew what it meant, the familiar first-generation experiences of speaking for your parents at medical offices, social service departments, law enforcement as well as witnessing how these communities, especially in the Southeast U.S. live in a state of anxiety, no person should experience, Sandra dreams of working towards a sustainable and just Immigration Reform Policy as well as the abolition/reform of institutions such as ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement). In her free time, Sandra loves to read, authors such as bell hooks, James Baldwin, and Clarice Lispector are some of their favorites, as well as listening to music and collecting CDs, weightlifting and playing with her 2 Shih Tzu-Mix dogs (Lola & Leah) and her cat (Apollo).
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