Farmworker Justice Fund’s Message (www.fwjustice.org)

The President’s Temporary Foreign Worker Proposal Is Ill-Conceived -- The AgJOBS Compromise on Farmworker Immigration Should be Supported

The President’s proposal in his immigration policy speech on Wednesday was vague but is specific enough for us to know that he is essentially proposing a new era of indentured servants. This nation has experimented with indentured servitude and “guestworker” programs; they failed miserably and caused great misery. His proposal should be rejected as inconsistent with our nation’s democratic traditions and our history as a nation of immigrants.

Under the President’s proposal, Congress would create a new temporary foreign worker program. A person from another country, whether living here or abroad, could gain a temporary, nonimmigrant work visa if he or she finds an employer willing to participate in the guestworker program. If the employment ended, that person would not have a right to stay in the United States unless another employer was willing to participate in the guestworker program. After three years, a renewal of the visa may be possible if the employer agrees.

The temporary work visa will essentially be controlled by the employer. The worker’s ability to remain in the U.S. will depend on keeping that employer satisfied. Consequently, the worker will know that he or she risks deportation by challenging unfair or illegal conduct. Employers will gain docile workers who often will work for lower wages and fewer benefits. With potentially several million guestworkers, the U.S. citizens and full-fledged immigrants will experience reduced bargaining power with their employers. Union organizing and bargaining will be impeded.

The President’s proposal lacks the labor protections against exploitation that the notorious "Bracero" program had and that are present in the abusive H-2A and H-2B temporary foreign worker programs. There will be no protections against depression in wage rates through the use of exploitable guestworkers. The minimum wage is not enough. If a poultry processing plant is paying citizens and immigrants $12 per hour but has access to guestworkers, it might choose to offer $10 per hour. This bill does not protect wage levels or other working conditions from depression. This and other protections existed even under the old Bracero program despite its reputation for abuses. The President’s proposal is a shocking departure from longstanding policy.

Generally, such programs are called "guest worker" programs because the participating employees have no right to become immigrants or citizens of the United States. In this case, the visas would be temporary but many of the jobs they would hold are permanent. Some of the undocumented workers who would want a legal status have been employed in the U.S. for a decade or more in year-round jobs. The disconnect is not explained. On the other hand, there is significant unemployment in some geographic areas and industries; the proposal seems to lack a meaningful labor market test as a prerequisite for bringing in new guestworkers from abroad.

These workers will not be able to earn their way to a “green card” with immigration status even after years of employment. Guestworkers would apparently only be permitted to apply for the multi-year, perhaps multi-decade, waiting list to become an immigrant. In this sense, such workers will not even be granted the right to earn their freedom that indentured servants had.

The fact that the President’s proposal would grant a “legal status” to undocumented workers does not by itself mean anything: slavery was a “legal status” too. The President’s proposal raises a fundamental question about the nature of citizenship and immigration status in this country and answers it in the wrong way.

This is a nation of immigrants, not a nation of guestworkers. It is also a nation of basic freedoms; guestworkers, however, are subjected to a status that deprives them of meaningful economic bargaining power and, as nonvoters, of political representation or influence. Undocumented workers who are contributing to this society and other foreign workers who are needed should be converted to legal immigrant status, not into indentured servants under a guestworker program.

The President’s proposal should be rejected. As to farmworkers, the White House should support the AgJOBS compromise (S.1645, HR 3142). It would provide undocumented farmworkers with the opportunity to earn immigration status by continuing to work in agriculture and would revise the H-2A guestworker program. It’s a reasonable compromise based on arduous negotiations after years of bitter battles in Congress. No more delay is warranted.