Picked Apart

Tovar reached out to the migrant worker rights organization Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM) to report her working conditions. In 2009, the CDM collaborated with Tovar and other women migrant workers to tell their story in the report Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry. Elisa became a worker leader at CDM and advocated for the rights of migrant women workers. Her work aided in the creation of new rules to the H2-B visa program to help combat recruitment and employment abuses.