The GOP Wants To Bring in More Migrant Guest Workers—But For Much Lower Pay
Republicans say their new program will solve labor shortages. Migrant groups say it’s a “recipe for worker exploitation.”
KANYAKRIT VONGKIATKAJORN NOV. 1, 2017 5:14 PM
A grape picker in Oakville, California. Eric Risberg/AP
Immigrant workers provide a crucial supply of labor for the American farm industry, making up more than 70 percent of farmworkers—nearly half of whom are undocumented. Though employers have long lobbied for ways to bring in more workers, legislators have disagreed on the best way to reform the current guest worker program for farmworkers, H-2A.
Immigrant advocacy groups say the bill would gut protections for workers, substantially lower wages for migrants, and expose even more workers to exploitation. The latest attempt is a bill by Virginia Rep. Robert Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and one of the biggest proponents of reforming the H-2A. The bill, which narrowly cleared the committee last Wednesday, would overhaul the current guest worker program and replace it with a new H-2C visa for bringing in foreign agricultural workers to the US. In contrast to the current H2-A visa, the new program, called the Agricultural Guestworker Act, would cap the number of visas at 450,000 a year, and allow workers to be able to stay year-round, while eliminating the requirement that employers provide free housing and transportation.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...uch-lower-pay/
