When talking about migrant workers, it's first important to define what a “migrant worker” actually is. To put it simply, a migrant worker is anyone who works in a country of which they aren't a full citizen. There are dozens of types of migrant workers, as detailed in the Model International Mobility Convention. The Convention is a culmination of over two years of debate by many human rights and migration experts from around the globe, a proposition to reaffirm the existing rights for migrants detailed in the document. These frameworks are essential for understanding migrant workers and their rights.

What rights do migrant workers and their families have within the foreign countries they work in? The first group of rights concerns the individual's employment; some examples include the right to join unions, the right to be paid a fair wage, and the right to enforceable employment contracts. These rights ensure that the government must step in so that workers aren't scammed because they aren't a citizen of that nation. The second group includes various civil rights, like: the right not to be discriminated against because of their place of origin, the right to safety, and the right to movement normally allowed within the law. The last of these is to combat human trafficking, a very big problem among migrants and migrant workers. The third group are the various economic rights, such as: the right to health care, right to buy and sell property, and right to “decent living conditions”. These are to place a greater responsibility on the government to ensure the safety and relative stability of migrant workers. It's important to remember that migrants still have to follow the law and respect the culture of the country of the employment. These rights in the Convention aren't always recognized internationally, obviously, but they would be a great starting point for any true international discussion on the rights of these people.

What human rights abuses do we witness occurring with migrant workers and their families? We don't need to look any further than right here at home, in the United States. The United States is a country of immigrants, but as undocumented immigrants come looking for opportunities and stability, they can be abused and exploited with the threat of deportation looming over their heads. One example of this was at a Case Farms chicken plant in Canton, Ohio. At this plant, Osiel López Pérez, a migrant worker, had to have his lower left leg amputated to due an injury from dangerous working conditions. This injury resulted in every undocumented immigrant worker at the plant being fired. Case Farms was cited two hundred and forty violations by federal workplace-safety inspectors from 2010 to 2017, more than almost any other poultry company. This is a perfect example of employers lowering costs by exploiting migrant workers.

To fix these blatant violations of human rights, we need governments all over the world to recognize treaties for the human rights of migrant workers. One of these treaties, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, is only signed by 54 countries, of which the United States isn't one. The United States is notorious for not signing international human rights treaties to stay independent of a higher power. out of 18 international human rights treaties, the United States has signed five. For comparison, China, a horrible human rights abuser, has signed five, South Sudan, the youngest country, has signed seven, and every single European country has at least signed ten. Every country can improve to ensure that our migrant workers can be given basic human rights