Immokalee, Florida is a largely agricultural community located 40 miles northeast of Naples and west of Miami. Immokalee's has a year-round population of almost 20,000, the population doubles during the harvest season  to over 40,000.

The per capita income for the town is $8,576.and the median household income is $24,315. 39.8% of the population and 34.6% of families are below the poverty line.  Out of the total people living in poverty, 46.1% are under the age of 18 and 26.9% are 65 or older.

There are about 5,000 housing units of which 2,800 are available to rent. 

Tomato companies pay Immokalee farm workers 40-50 cents for every 32 lb. bucket of tomatoes they pick, virtually the same rate they made in 1978. According to a University of Florida survey, Immokalee pickers make an average annual income of just $6,574. They receive no health insurance, no sick leave, no paid holidays, no paid vacation, no pension and are denied the right to overtime pay and the right to organize.

Florida farm worker advocates receive human rights award
WASHINGTON -- For two decades, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award has shone the spotlight on atrocities around the world, recognizing those who stood up to battle apartheid in South Africa or fight for democracy in China. But in honoring a trio of labor advocates battling sweatshop conditions that in extreme examples include a form of modern-day slavery, the awards committee did not need to travel to a Third World country. They simply needed to head to the farms in Southwest Florida, where workers struggle to live without benefits on $7,500 or less a year off a tomato crop whose price has remained unchanged since 1978.