Guest worker program

‍A guest worker program allows foreign workers to temporarily work in a host country. Guest workers typically perform low or semi-skilled agricultural, industrial, or domestic labor in countries with workforce shortages, and they return home once their contract has expired.Levine, Linda. United States. Congressional Research Service. The Effects on U.S. Farmworkers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program. 111 Cong. Cong. Rept. N.p.: n.p., n.d. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 22 Mar. 2000. While migrant workers may move within a country to find labor, guest worker programs employ workers from areas outside of the host country.Griffith, Kati L. "U.S. Migrant Worker Law: The Interstices of Immigration Law and Labor and Employment Law." Comparative Labor Law & Policy 31.125 (2009): 125-62. Google Scholar. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. Guest workers are not considered immigrants due to the temporary nature of their contracts. Guest worker programs have been associated with low wages in these jobs.

United States In the United States, there have been efforts at guest worker programs for many years. These include the Bracero Program, enacted during World War II; attempts by the George W. Bush administration; and the current H-2A and H-2B visa programs. However, attempts at improving the programs have been ongoing and have been vigorously debated. While the United States' guest worker programs do not explicitly focus on any specific nationality, such plans typically target labor from Mexico,Morgan, Kristi L. Evaluating Guest Worker Programs in the U.S., 2004 due to the shared border, the economic disparity,Martin, Philip L. & Teitelbaum, Michael S. The Mirage of Mexican Guest Workers. Foreign Affairs, 2001 and the history of programs between the countries.Congressional Digest Worker Program Overview., 2005

Bracero Program, 1942–64 The Bracero Program was a temporary-worker importation agreement between the United States and Mexico from 1942 to 1964. Initially created in 1942 as an emergency procedure to alleviate wartime labor shortages, the program actually lasted until 1964, bringing approximately 4.5 million legal Mexican workers into the United States during its lifespan.United States. Cong. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Temporary Worker Programs: Background and Issues. By Joyce Vialet. 96 Cong., 2 sess. S. Rept. Washington: GPO, 1980. Proquest. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

The Bracero Program expanded during the early 1950s, admitting more than 400,000 Mexican workers for temporary employment per year until 1959 when numbers began a steady decline. While illegal immigration was a concern of both the United States and Mexico, the Bracero Program was seen as a partial solution to the upsurge of undocumented worker entries.

Under the program, total farm employment skyrocketed, domestic farm worker employment decreased, and the farm wage rate decreased. Critics have noted widespread abuses of the program: workers had ten percent of their wages withheld for planned pensions but the money was often never repaid.Kanstroom, Daniel, and Stephanie M. Garfield. "Guest Workers." Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Ed. Kathleen R. Arnold. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2011. 234-237. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2013 Workers also were de-loused with DDT at border stations and were often placed in housing conditions deemed ‘highly inadequate’ by the Farm Service Agency. Other scholars who interviewed workers have highlighted some of the more positive aspects of the program, including the higher potential wages a bracero could earn in the United States.Fund, John. "Cross Country: Bring Back the Braceros." The Wall Street Journal[New York] 27 July 2006, A.13 sec.: n. pag. ProQuest. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. "Bracero Jose Delgado noted that in Mexico 'life was very difficult…You could make between four to five pesos working from dusk until dawn. Coming here and making 72 cents an hour, that was a big difference.'" Due in large part to the growing opposition by organized labor and welfare groups, the program came to an end in 1964.

H-2 Program

As opposed to the agriculture-based Bracero Program, the H-2 Visa Program offers both agricultural and non-agricultural opportunities for guest workers in the United States.Guest Worker Program Overview." Congressional Digest 84.6 (2005): 164-192. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Feb. 2013 While both programs co-existed in the 1950s, the H-2 program employed guest workers on a much smaller scale, allowing the program to escape some of the criticism leveled at the Bracero Program.

The H-2 program is a nonimmigrant visa given on a temporary basis for "low-skilled labor" in the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, created the program in 1953."Evolution Of U.S. Immigration Policy." Congressional Digest 62.8/9 (1983): 196. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. This act established a quota of (non)immigrants per country based on its population of the United States in 1920. Later, in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) divided it into H-2A and H-2B.Orrenius, Pia M., and Madeline Zavodny. "The Economic Consequences Of Amnesty For Unauthorized Immigrants." CATO Journal 32.1 (2012): 85-106. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. These two programs are administered through the Employment Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (DOL) and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

H-2A vs. H-2B The H-2A program is a program that enables farm owners to apply to the Department of Labor (DOL) to bring in "low-skilled laborers" for agricultural work.United States. Department of Labor. H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. In contrast, the H-2B program is for all non-agricultural work.United States. Department of Labor. H-2B Certification. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. In both cases, this work must be temporary; however, to qualify for the H2-A program, the work must also be seasonal. The visa that is acquired by the worker is good for, at most, one year.United States. Department of Labor. H-2A Certification. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. However, it is possible to renew the visa for up to three years total.

Qualification/application To qualify for the application in both programs, there are two essential components that must be fulfilled by the employer. After the following two qualifications are met, an employer is able to apply to the program for workers. There must not be enough "able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers" for the position. The employment of nonimmigrants "will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers."

Failed legislative attempts at reform

Most guest worker legislation introduced during the 105th through 110th Congress (January 1997 – 2003) solely discussed reforming the H-2A program.United States. Cong. Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs. By Andorra Bruno. 109th Cong. Cong. Rept. N.p.: n.p., 2006. Reform provisions, which included a pathway under which guest workers could gain legal permanent residence status, were not enacted into law. Guest worker policy discussions in 2001 between President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox were halted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.Bosworth, Camille J. "Guest Worker Policy: A Critical Analysis of President Bush's Proposed Reform." Hastings Law Journal 56 (2004): 1095-120. Google Scholar. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

On January 7, 2004, President Bush reaffirmed his desire for guest worker program reform and laid forth plans for its implementation, known as the ‘Fair and Secure Immigration Reform’ program.Lichenstein, Merav. "An Examination of Guest Worker Immigration Reform Policies in the United States." Cardozo Public Law, Policy, and Ethics Journal 689 (2006): 689-728. Web. 18 Apr. 2013. According to the White House Press Secretary, this program laid out five specific policy goals:"Fact Sheet: Fair and Secure Immigration Reform." January 7, 2004. White House Office of the Press Secretary. Web.Bush, George W. "Immigration Reform." Vital Speeches Of The Day 72.16/17 (2006): 466-468. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. Protecting the homeland by protecting our borders: the program should include efforts to control the United States border through agreements with participating countries. Serve America's economy by matching a willing worker with a willing employer: the program should efficiently connect prospective workers with employers in the same sector. Promoting compassion: the program should provide a temporary worker card to undocumented workers that allows them re-entry into the United States during their three years. Providing incentives to return to home country: the program should require workers to return to their home countries after their work period has ended. Protecting the rights of legal immigrants: the program should not be connected with obtaining a green card. The program also contains specific agenda items for reformation of the guest worker programs already in effect: Employers must make every reasonable effort to fill a position with American workers first. Enforcement against companies hiring illegal immigrants will increase. The United States will work with other countries to have guest workers included in their home country's retirement plans. Those in the program can apply for citizenship, but will not be given any preference and will enter at the end of the line. A reasonable increase in the number of legal immigrants into the United States. The proposed program did not include a permanent legalization mechanism for guest workers. Bill S.2611, passed by the Senate in May 2006, included provisions for a guest worker program following the general guidelines of President Bush's proposed plan. No further action on the bill, however, was taken by the House, allowing to the bill to be defeated.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 was introduced by Senator Harry Reid (D- NV). It would have created a new visa class for temporary workers, allowing them to stay in the country for two years. It failed to pass; some attribute the bill's defeat to an approved amendment which would have ended the program after five years, leading to the loss of support for the bill in the business community."Immigration bill agreement 'very close'; Guest workers still a hurdle for businesses, labor leaders." The Washington Times. (March 28, 2013 Thursday ): 1028 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/04/21.Nakamura, Rosalind S. "House, Senate crafting immigration bills." The Washington Post. (March 16, 2013 Saturday ): 981 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/04/21.

Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, 2013