Amendment to Remove the Guest Worker Program from the Comprehensive Immigration Bill of 2006

hmoroz — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:56:03 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Number workers employed in the U.S. under the nation’s current guest worker programs, who were aggressively recruited from Latin America to fill hotel jobs in post-Katrina New Orleans and then exploited by their employer, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center: 84

Percentage of workers in one study whose employers found out their immigration papers were falsified yet who were not fired until they complained about workplace conditions: 25

Percentage who were not fired until they tried to organize a union: 21

Number of days unemployed guest workers could legally remain in the U.S. without starting a new job: 60

Average length of unemployment in 2006: 9.6 weeks

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Supports This Amendment and Opposes the Procedural Vote To Kill It. The middle class supports removing the guest worker provisions from the comprehensive immigration reform bill because of the potential for these vulnerable temporary employees to be exploited in ways that downgrade wages and working conditions for American workers. The fundamental problem with any guest worker program is the way it institutionalizes the second-tier status of immigrant workers, providing employers with a constantly renewing labor force that is in many ways at their mercy, and thus will tend to be paid less and work under worse conditions than citizens. The more jobs that can be transformed into “guest worker jobs,” the fewer domestic jobs will provide the wages and benefits capable of providing a middle-class standard of living. While the bill’s provisions for temporary workers to be hired at the prevailing wage would provide some important protection against this race to the bottom, a constant supply of disempowered guest workers could still prevent wages in an industry dominated by guest workers from rising when they otherwise might.

In addition to the general problem with guest worker programs, the specific program established by this bill leaves immigrant workers vulnerable to exploitation in additional ways. By mandating that guest workers who are unemployed for more than 60 days leave the country, the bill puts pressure on workers to remain in jobs with substandard wages and working conditions or rush to accept a new job with poor conditions before the period runs out, out of fear of losing legal status. In addition, stronger mechanisms for enforcing the bill’s labor protections are needed, because the bill’s weak administrative process carried out at the discretion of the already overburdened Department of Labor risks being insufficient to genuinely deter violations.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States,” from the Southern Poverty Law Center

“Guest worker programs should include strong wage protections for U.S. workers,” from the Economic Policy Institute

Amendment to Remove Legalization Provisions from the Immigration Bill of 2007

atraub — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:03:52 -0400

Legislation

The middle class

Opposes

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Percentage of Americans who support the earned legalization provisions of the immigration bill, which this amendment would eliminate: 67

Amount undocumented immigrants are estimated to have contributed in federal taxes between 1996 and 2003: nearly $50 billion

Percentage of workers in one study whose employers found out their immigration papers were falsified yet who were not fired until they complained about workplace conditions: 25

Percentage who were not fired until they tried to organize a union: 21

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

The Middle Class Opposes. The American middle class relies on the economic contributions of immigrants. While the overall immigration bill this amendment is attached to recognizes these contributions and would allow them to continue under the Z visa program, this amendment eliminates that pathway to legalization. Instead, by taking out the bill’s only means for otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants to remain in the country legally, the amendment effectively endorses a policy of imprisoning and deporting the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently helping to support the economy as workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers and consumers. This mass deportation is the explicit aim of many of the bill’s supporters. But imprisonment and deportation is not only a bad policy for the middle class but also a tremendously expensive and ultimately unworkable one. Many undocumented immigrants would still evade deportation, while others would continue to enter the country illegally. Attempting to enforce such an unworkable policy would further drain scarce enforcement resources.

Equally important is the way this legislation would exacerbate the threat that undocumented workers pose to the wages and workplace conditions of aspiring middle-class Americans. Because unscrupulous employers can threaten to have their undocumented employees deported at any time, these immigrants are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace. This underground workforce competing in the labor market with American citizens perpetuates a "race to the bottom" in which employers, especially those in industries requiring unskilled labor, are driven to reduce wages and benefits and degrade employee working conditions in an effort to compete with companies that employ undocumented workers under substandard conditions. While this legislation seeks to drive undocumented immigrants out of the workplace completely, the more likely effect would be that they remain in the country but are driven further underground, increasing their vulnerability and further undermining middle-class wages and working conditions.

Quotes from Experts

Beyond this Bill

Additional Resources

“Immigration and the Middle Class Toolkit” from the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy

Comprehensive Immigration Reform update page from the National Immigration Law Center

“The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Market,” from the Congressional Budget Office

Comprehensive immigration reform

Amendment to Remove the Guest Worker Program from the Comprehensive Immigration Bill of 2006

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources

Amendment to Remove Legalization Provisions from the Immigration Bill of 2007

Legislation

The middle class

Video Summary

Injustice Facts

Overview/Summary

Middle Class Position Analysis

Related Blog: Header

Quotes from Experts

Related Blog: Text

Beyond this Bill

Related Blog: Link

Additional Resources