Insisting that a temporary guest-worker program is not the answer to America’s immigration problem, labor leaders and some immigrant rights supporters say they will urge lawmakers to reject any proposal that places control of worker visas in the hands of employers and that ties legalization to employment.
Sweeping changes to immigration law proposed last week by President Bush would give undocumented workers living in the U.S. the chance to obtain a three-year temporary work visa, which would allow them to get legitimate jobs and to seek citizenship without fear of deportation.
The visa, which would be renewable one time, also would allow citizens of Mexico to work in the U.S. legally and enable them to cross the border repeatedly.
Bush did not provide details about how the visas would be administered. But union officials attacked the plan, saying it would create an even larger underclass of workers who are subjected to employer abuses and substandard wages out of fear of deportation.
“The president proposes a new, enlarged temporary worker program that will do nothing to strengthen protections for wages, benefits and other rights of immigrant and domestic workers,” said John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO.
Bush also left uncertain whether newly registered undocumented workers would be given a chance to find another job if they lost the job for which their visa was issued or face deportation. This worries activists because the president stressed he is opposed to blanket amnesty for the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Terry O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers International Union of North America, expressed concern for construction and migrant farm workers who change employers frequently.
“Most workers in construction don’t stay with any one employer for a long period of time. If the job ends, and they’re looking for work in the dead of winter and they can’t find employment, does that mean they’re sent back?” O’Sullivan said. “I don’t like it that the only way someone can stay is if they’re tied to a single employer.”
Julie Pearl, chief executive and managing attorney for the Pearl Law Group, an immigration law firm in San Francisco, said a better solution would be to issue employment authorization documents, a work visa that is renewable after a year, and that serves as somewhat of a “temporary green card.”
Workers would be able to take their employment documents to any employer, except for jobs open only to U.S. citizens, while they wait out the green-card process, which can take a minimum of five years and usually a lot longer.
Otherwise, Pearl said, there is little incentive for immigrants who have lived here for a number of years to register, especially with stricter enforcement of immigration laws and tracking of foreign visitors.
“When [their visa] is up, they’re on the government’s radar, and they haven’t gotten a green card yet, so they’re still going to have difficulties,” Pearl said.
Other guest worker programs in which workers must have employer sponsorship, such as the H-1B visa program, have come under similar attacks. But critics say the path to legalization for workers under the proposed plan is even fuzzier. Some believe that immigrants who have worked and contributed to the U.S. economy for years shouldn’t have to stand in line with everybody else for a green card.
“I think it’s a moral issue,” O’Sullivan said. “They come here for the American dream and break immigration law. I’m not condoning that. But if they abide by all the other laws of this country and contribute to society, they should be rewarded.”
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Hear T. Shawn Taylor on WBBM-AM 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Tuesdays and 7:52 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. E-mail staylor@tribune.com.
