Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate your vehicle during the month of April or May and you'll be entered into a $500 Visa gift card drawing!

Mexican Women Are A Lifeline For Maryland's Crab Industry

Harry Phillips with master picker Elpidia Martinez, one of 600 Mexican seasonal migrant workers, mostly women, who get H-2B visas to work in Maryland. The state’s seafood industry says each worker supports 2.5 American jobs. (Armando Trull/WAMU)
Harry Phillips with master picker Elpidia Martinez, one of 600 Mexican seasonal migrant workers, mostly women, who get H-2B visas to work in Maryland. The state’s seafood industry says each worker supports 2.5 American jobs. (Armando Trull/WAMU)

Each summer, around 600 Mexican women come to Hooper’s Island in Maryland under the H-2B visa program to do jobs their employers say Americans don’t want.

Armando Trull (@trulldc) of WAMU reports that for more than two decades, the women have helped keep the iconic seafood alive.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.