Inspections find no water, no beds – and rats – at Virginia’s migrant labor camps

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Nearly 1,500 violations were found at Virginia’s migrant labor camps during state health department inspections over the last five years, including facilities with black mold, rat and cockroach infestations, no running water, no heat and no beds.

The Virginia Department of Health enforces the rules for these migrant labor camps, which, under state law, could be buildings, trailers, tents or even just “unconventional enclosures of living space."

The agency inspects camps before it grants operators yearly permits, for routine checks, to follow up to ensure operators have complied with requirements, responding to complaints and other reasons.

VDH data obtained through a public records request shows more than 1,450 violations were found in the more than 2,300 inspections from August 2019 to August 2024. An 8News review of the violations found camps during that time with no fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, too many beds, unapproved sewage systems, snakeskin and wasp nests in bathrooms.

8News Investigation: Youngkin’s office holds up changes to Virginia’s outdated migrant labor camp rules

In April 2023, one routine VDH inspection found “unlivable conditions” at a migrant labor camp in Grayson County, Virginia.

"Severe mold growth over multiple rooms and surfaces. Air quality is extremely poor,” the VDH inspector wrote about the camp. “Rats present with multiple holes throughout the home. Water damage and holes through exterior walls present.”

Virginia's regulations for migrant labor camps set standards for general maintenance, water supply requirements and other safety and health guidelines. The rules are outdated and advocates say they provide the “bare minimum” for the workers temporarily living in them who play an essential role in the state's economy.

And the effort to update the rules, which haven’t been thoroughly reviewed in decades, has been under review by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office for more than a year.

VDH's inspection process for migrant labor camps

Local health districts do inspections of migrant labor camps that could be scheduled or unannounced, per the agency.

They can be done before workers arrive at the migrant labor camps for permitting reasons, routine checks while workers are there, in response to a complaint investigation or a follow-up to check if standards have been met.

To get a Virginia permit for a migrant labor camp, an owner or operator should notify a local health department about plans to construct or remodel a camp at least 30 days before doing so, VDH Environmental Health Coordinator Briana Bill told 8News in an interview.

Once the local district is notified, they provide the proposed camp owner with the applicable regulations and standards to ensure they meet state and federal requirements. The application to operate a camp must be submitted to the local health department 30 days before it can be opened.

The local district reviews the application and then schedules a time for an inspection before workers arrive and a permit can be granted. Unannounced inspections can be done to follow up on whether a camp has complied with all requirements or if a complaint is made.

How often VDH inspects a migrant labor camp can vary across local health districts and rules don’t require a monthly inspection process, Bill said.

A camp could have multiple inspection reports because they must comply with regulations and standards before getting a permit, meaning some camps may be inspected several times as they work towards compliance, Bill noted in the interview.

The VDH inspectors who do migrant labor camp inspections

VDH told 8News that its database shows that 74 environmental health staff members conducted inspections at migrant labor camps across Virginia within the past year.

The inspectors don’t have any certification requirement, Bill told 8News, but are expected to review and be familiar with state and federal standards.

Migrant labor camps have to follow the state's regulations, but they also use either the housing standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which come with square footage requirements for each occupant.

For camps built or under construction before April 3, 1980, the ETA or OSHA standards can apply as it’s up to the camp operator. For those built after, the OSHA standards apply. OSHA standards are the primary one, Bill told 8News.

Inspectors for the state health department also undergo training and shadow other staff to get mentored on-site, Bill explained.

“Familiarity and exposure to the camps and just knowing what they're looking at is huge,” Bill said. “And that's usually garnered at the district level from seasoned staff.”

Virginia doesn't have standard inspection forms -- or requirements to sign them

Screenshot of a 2022 migrant labor camp inspection report for a migrant labor camp in Virginia's Blue Ridge Health District. (Image from documents obtained through public records request)

All inspections should be documented on a report form, Bill told 8News, but the forms can be specific to local health districts. Bill said that VDH is working on standardizing the inspection forms.

8News reviewed migrant labor camp inspection reports from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Health District, obtained through a public records request, that show demerit numbers associated with certain areas that are inspected, such as the site, shelter, toilet facilities and more.

There are spaces on the forms for the number of permitted and estimated occupants at the camp. Some forms obtained by 8News had handwritten notes in the margins and one appeared to be handwritten on a blank sheet of paper.

Screenshot of a 2023 migrant labor camp inspection report for a migrant labor camp in Virginia's Blue Ridge Health District that's written on a blank sheet of paper. (Image from documents obtained through public records request)

Also, several didn’t have signatures that they were received by a camp owner or operator. Some didn’t have signatures from inspectors.

Bill said that, while VDH would like owners and operators to sign the inspection forms, and they typically do, they don’t have to and can refuse to do so without giving a reason. She said many factors could come into play in these cases, including sometimes people “might not appreciate” what’s on the report.

What VDH inspectors have found

Records obtained by 8News show that more than 1,450 violations were found during the more than 2,300 VDH inspections at migrant labor camps from August 2019 to August 2024. Some are minor, while others are for insufficient or no fire safety tools.

An 8News review found camps without heat, no running water, no first aid kits, no toilet paper, no beds or too many beds, mold, exposed wiring, no fire extinguishers or smoke detectors, harmful chemicals next to water supply equipment, areas in disrepair and more.

One 2023 inspection of a camp that hadn’t opened at the time found the facility didn’t have “bathrooms, a kitchen, or laundry area” and a ceiling that was exposed in some areas.  

A persistent issue for migrant labor camps in the five-year span has been rodents, pests and camps with too many beds, 8News’ review found.

Dozens of inspections from August 2019 to August 2024 found evidence of rodents and pests, including live and dead rats and roaches, droppings on beds, in kitchens and other living areas and a wasp nest over a toilet.

One inspection in 2022 of a migrant labor camp in Grayson, Virginia, found a snakeskin in a bathroom and rodent droppings in several rooms in the home. Per records reviewed by 8News, inspectors have warned camp operators to repair screens and facilities to make sure insects and rodents are kept out.

8News' review found dozens of violations from August 2019 and August 2024 of camps having more beds than their allowed occupant levels.

"Facility is far over capacity on # of beds," an inspector wrote about a camp in Grayson County during a 2023 inspection. "Max occupancy of septic system is the limiting factor, with system able to handle only 9 people, but 20 beds are present."

Per the records, here are some of the violations VDH inspectors found from August 2019 to August 2024:

• "Make-shift room made for privacy but it blocks emergency fire exit window."
• "There is not running water at the building."
• "Apartment 3 has a odor to the water."
• "The ceiling in the bathroom was observed with an accumulation of black mold."
• "No beds on site."
• "Oven door is still broken. Holding on with one hinge."
• "Kitchen is not usable as is. Kitchen is an empty room with a sink. There are no cooking burners, no dishes, no table, and no fridge."
• "Significant insect activity in and on the home. Yellow jackets are living inside the exterior wall, wasps have ~ 12 nests on indoor and outdoor surfaces of the home, and rats are present in the home (including a carcass)."
• "No heat in home."
• "Owner/operator unable to describe how the garbage is dealt with."
• "Large and very deep hole is present under front end of trailer on uphill side (groundhogs?). Starling nest present over doorway on porch."

Few complaints are made

While VDH conducts inspections to respond to complaint investigations, a small fraction of ones done in the five-year period have come after a complaint was made.

Only five of the more than 2,300 state inspections done from August 2019 to August 2024, came because of a complaint, records show, and in that time, only eight violations were found during inspections brought on by a complaint.

Manuel Gago, organizing director of the Legal Aid Justice Center’s worker justice program, said workers who temporarily live in Virginia’s migrant labor camps are often too frightened to come forward with complaints.

A migrant worker, under state law, is any individual from within or outside Virginia who passes through seasonally for work. The worker isn’t a year-round employee and lives in a migrant labor camp while they work in Virginia’s agricultural or fishing industry.

Many come to Virginia through the H-2A visa program, which allows U.S. employers to fill temporary agricultural jobs with foreign workers. In fiscal year 2023, 4,877 H-2A migrant workers were requested in Virginia, per data from the commonwealth’s workforce development agency.

Gago, who has visited several camps across Virginia for the work he does, told 8News that these migrant workers not only depend on their current job but also need camp operators to ask them back for the next year. He said this puts them in a spot of deciding whether they want livable conditions or have a job.

“There are many cases where workers are afraid because maybe the employer takes adverse actions against them,” Gago said in an interview.

Gago told 8News that updating the regulations for these migrant labor camps is vital from his perspective, calling the regulations "very old." “I think it’s for humanity and common sense," he said about the need to make changes.

Bill, the VDH environmental health coordinator, noted that the code of Virginia requires the state regulations “be no more stringent than those enforced by the Department of Labor.”

“So, when we move forward with this workgroup, a stakeholder workgroup will be convened to aid the agency in the discussion, the suggestions, the ideas, suggested amendments to the regulations,” Bill said. “And we want to make sure that all of these topics are reviewed and discussed with that stakeholder workgroup.”

“But because the code is plain in its requirement that state regulation cannot be more restrictive than federal standards, the agency still acknowledges it’s important to recognize potential concerns related to migrant labor camp design, construction and maintenance," Bill continued. "Through that review, we’ll identify what needs to be addressed and then what we can or cannot legally address in regulation."

The other inspectors of Virginia's migrant labor camps

Virginia’s health department isn’t the only department responsible for inspecting these camps. Virginia Works, the commonwealth’s workforce development agency, and the U.S. Department of Labor inspect them too.

Virginia Works does pre-occupancy housing inspections in response to H-2 visa worker requests, Angela Kelly-Wiecek, the agency’s chief deputy commissioner, wrote in an email. She noted that VDH is responsible for inspecting camps "during the occupancy period."

“If our outreach staff visit workers and notice any apparent violations of housing regulations, we seek resolution when appropriate and refer such matters to the appropriate enforcement agency including the Virginia Department of Health, the Department of Labor and Industry, the US Department of Labor,” Kelly-Wiecek wrote.

When asked whether VDH conducts head counts to ensure camps don't have more occupants than what operators report, Bill said the agency doesn't and said it was "probably" the Virginia Employment Commission.

VDH told 8News that VEC "conducts inspections before and when workers are living at the camps" after the interview with Bill. However, VEC's oversight of migrant labor camps shifted to Virginia Works.

A VEC spokesperson wrote in an email: "I am sorry, VDH is incorrect. It seems they may not yet be aware that all those resources have transitioned to Virginia Works. Virginia Works aka DWDA officially formed/transitioned under new legislation that took effect on July 1, 2024."

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division administers and enforces federal laws setting basic labor standards for migrant workers across the country.

“Our investigators may enter and inspect premises (including vehicles and housing) to determine compliance with applicable federal laws and regulations," a department spokesperson wrote in an email. "During these inspections, investigators may immediately advise employers to make changes necessary to achieve compliance."

The Wage and House Division does investigations for several reasons tied to the enforcement of labor laws and to assure employers comply with them, including after complaints are made. If an employer has multiple housing locations in a camp, all are inspected for an investigation.

“However, it is important to note that there are certain persons and organizations, such as small businesses, which may be exempt from the Acts that we enforce, therefore we would not have jurisdiction to inspect the labor camp,” a U.S. labor department spokesperson wrote in an email.

As part of its investigations, the division verifies that workers are being paid properly, reviews records and interviews workers to determine compliance.

“In addition to basic labor standards and housing standards, the Field Sanitation Provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act establishes minimum standards for covered agricultural settings for toilets, potable drinking water, and hand-washing facilities, and for providing information regarding good hygiene practices.”

If a violation is found, the division’s investigator will meet with the employer about the violations and how to correct them, per the Department of Labor.