Saturday, February 2, 2013

Will Immigration Reform Address H-2 Guestworker Recruiter Violations?

By Mike Elk, Working in These Times
January 22, 2013

With President Obama vowing to push immigration reform, guest worker advocates want to ensure that the H-2 visa program—which grants temporary or seasonal U.S. visas to foreign workers in sectors such as agriculture—is on the agenda. All too often, advocates say, guest workers are forced by third-party recruiters to pay illegal recruitment fees, sometimes without receiving a job in return.

Hoping to jumpstart a conversation on these exploitative practices, the migrant-rights organization Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM) released a report on Thursday titled “Recruitment Revealed” that surveyed 220 guest workers from Mexico about guest-work recruiting abuses. CDM also unveiled a “Yelp-like” new online tracking tool that will allow guest workers to write reviews of the recruiters and their practices. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14470/will_immigration_reform_address_h_2_visa_extortion/

Read the report:
http://www.cdmigrante.org/recruitment-revealed-fundamental-flaws-in-the-h-2-temporary-worker-program-and-recommendations-for-change/

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