Guest worker program: The solution to the immigration issue?

No

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by Shelly Mcrae

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One of the latest reincarnations of the guest worker program died on the Senate floor on June 7th of 2007. As with so many legislative solutions to an economic problem, the proposal was complex, expensive, and so wrapped up in red tape the implementation would have become a bureaucratic boondoggle.

Immigrati on to the U.S. is inclusive of any and all peoples of any foreign nation entering this country, legally or illegally. Likewise, guest worker programs are inclusive of any non-American person desirous of working in the U.S. But it is the citizens of Mexico, Central and South America that could have the most to gain by a viable worker program. They may also have the most to lose by an overly complex and unenforceable program.

Guest worker visas are already used for Mexican nationals to enter the U.S. and work in a seasonal industry, such as tobacco farming. These workers are recruited in their homeland, the recruiters working for the farmers. But there is plenty of room for abuse, as recruiters charge naive Mexican nationals exorbitant fees to get on a list, but the visa never materializes. Even without the element of fraud, obtaining a work visa is a long, slow process that creates delays that result in the farmer not having enough workers at harvest time, and visa applicants never leaving Mexico.

The Mexican consulate must interview each visa applicant. That means thousands of interviews, which means delays. The Department of Labor outsourced the job to Computer Sciences Corp., but the outsourcing caused even further delays, as the applicants were sent to consulates spread out over Mexico. (1)

The red tape involved in guest worker visas continues to increase with each reincarnation. Those nationals who wish to enter the U.S. legally and work seasonally aren't the ones who necessarily wish to immigrate to the U.S. Any guest worker program is, by definition, aimed at guests.

The immigration issue lies in those who wish to leave their homeland and live in America.

In President Bush's 2004 State of the Union address, he calls for a "temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the job. This reform will be good for our economy - because employers will find needed workers in an honest and orderly system."

The President's plan calls for a temporary worker program, not citizenship. The immigration issue lies in illegal residents, those who have entered illegally, earn wages illegally, and obtain social services without legal status.

Though guest worker programs tend to provide a path to citizenship, the process is complicated and time consuming. In the latest program, the path consisted of spending two years in the U.S. followed by one year at the worker's homeland, followed by two years in the U.S. and so on for eight years. Eight years. At the end of this is a green card.(2)

Living under the radar' as an illegal is far less knotty, as there are already large communities of illegal immigrants from which to draw support.

Why wait eight years for a green card when, as an illegal, one can work, have a place to live, put the kids in school, and select from a menu of social services at no cost?

A guest worker program, then, addresses the needs of certain industries that require seasonal workers performing jobs that apparently no Americans can be found to do. A guest worker program provides a long and difficult process for guest workers to follow should they wish to become citizens. A guest worker program creates and sustains a large number of civil servant jobs as well as outsourcing opportunities for U.S. companies.

How does any of this address the immigration issue?

That the U.S. economy is dependent on immigrant workers to fill certain positions of employment is not in dispute, and ultimately, an economically and logistically feasible worker program could strengthen this economic area. But the immigration issue as it relates to the economy is a separate topic.

Countless illegals are hired in the U.S. for jobs in a wide variety of industries: construction, food service, manufacturing, and landscaping, just to name a few. Employers hire illegals because they will work long hours for low wages and no benefits. Americans won't. This is one of the aspects of the economic impact of illegal immigration. American citizens cannot and should not have to- compete with the dollar a day' wages illegals are willing to work for. The U.S. is dependent on foreign labor because foreign labor comes cheap. Guest worker programs do not address this issue, and so do not aid in strengthening the U.S. economy.

But it is the social complications of illegal immigration that are the most ignored by guest worker programs. Illegals are considered pariahs, bottom feeders and a drain on the U.S. economy, a threat to homeland security, and a threat to the moral fiber of society. This is not to say all Americans despise illegals or that all illegals are criminals or terrorists. But as concerns rise over the cost of illegal immigration and its threat to homeland security, the social climate becomes increasingly hostile to the illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America.

Guest worker programs look more and more like amnesty, like a free ride for illegals, like another hefty bill the American citizenry is expected to pay.

Guest worker programs are not designed to resolve the issue of illegal immigration; they are designed to allow those who wish to enter the U.S. legally a way to do so. Guest worker programs do not secure the southern border, do not entice illegals to come forth and seek citizenship, and do not curb the cost of illegal immigration to the American citizenry. They are pseudo solutions set forth by ambitious politicians, and do nothing to address the actual issue of immigration.

(1) Time Magazine. June 4 2007. pg 43
(2) Ibid

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