Our team has conducted research evaluating Sonoma County’s “Ag Pass”, a program that allows approved farm owner/operators and farmworkers to re-enter mandatory fire evacuation zones to perform activities such as feeding/rescuing livestock and irrigating/harvesting crops. While this program has been essential for many livestock and agricultural farm owners and operators, as recognized by the state legislature passing AB1103, our research finds that Sonoma County expanded eligibility for this program to all approved full-time agricultural workers without proper consideration of the unique needs and potential impacts in this population.

Together with a Community Engagement Team established by local farmworker advocate Zeke Guzman, we surveyed over 1,000 full-time Sonoma County farmworkers to understand their experiences working during wildfires and gaps in protection. We also conducted key informant interviews with a range of stakeholders, from members of the County Board of Supervisors, directors and staff in a range of County Departments, the Sherriff, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), state officials, and more to evaluate the potential impacts of Sonoma County’s Ag Pass program on farmworkers’ 1) health, 2) physical safety, 3) economic security, and 4) data privacy. This work has led to a series of recommendations to improve protection for farmworkers during wildfires, the development of state and federal comprehensive disaster pay models and the expansion of unemployment insurance to undocumented individuals, so that farmworkers are not forced to put their health on the line and continue working in hazardous conditions just to be able to pay for basic needs like rent and groceries.

This research was conducted in collaboration with Linda Gordon and the Human Rights Center in the Berkeley Law School – you can read more about our work and view and interactive dashboard with all of our survey findings here. You can read our academic paper here, and a full white paper with a series of County and State recommendations here.