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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Amid Trump's Immigration Crackdown, More Mexicans Get Visas to Work in U.S.

    Amid Trump's Immigration Crackdown, More Mexicans Get Visas to Work in U.S.

    By Robbie Whelan Published August 08, 2017 Features Dow Jones Newswires

    MEXICO CITY – Demand in America for Mexican farmhands, landscapers and other temporary workers is surging as the Trump administration moves to curb immigration and renegotiate its trade relationship with Mexico.

    That demand is prompting both countries to search for ways to ease labor shortages in key parts of the U.S. economy.


    In the first nine months of fiscal 2017, which began Oct. 1, the U.S. Labor Department certified more than 160,000 temporary workers -- the bulk of them from Mexico -- to harvest berries, tobacco and other crops in the U.S. under the H-2A agricultural visa program. That was up 20% from the period a year earlier.


    The annual issuance of H-2A visas nearly doubled from 85,248 in fiscal 2012 to 165,741 in 2016. The U.S. doesn't cap the number of these visas.


    Outside of agriculture, use of another type of seasonal-work visa also has surged in response to increased U.S. demand for unskilled laborers such as hotel housekeepers. The Department of Homeland Security in July raised the annual cap on H-2B visas by more than 20% to 81,000. The majority of workers receiving this type of visa also are from Mexico.


    Among the employers that applied in the past year for guest workers under the H-2B program are two operations owned by the Trump Organization, the real-estate company controlled by President Donald Trump's family: the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and a Virginia vineyard. The Trump Organization declined to comment.


    In raising the cap, DHS said it had "considered the needs of American businesses and other factors, including the impact on U.S. workers."


    American farmers for several years have voiced concerns about labor shortages, often paired with complaints about the H-2A visa program, which many see as overly bureaucratic, costly and time-consuming. The program requires employers to pay for food, housing and transportation for seasonal guest workers. Still, most farmers say the program is crucial to the U.S. agricultural industry.


    "It's extremely burdensome," but cutting the program would "bring the industry to its knees" because there aren't enough U.S.-born farmworkers, said Steve Scaroni, owner of large-scale farms in several states and founder of Fresh Harvest, one of the largest recruiters of H-2A workers in the U.S. "Within a week there wouldn't be salad in the store" if the program was canceled, he said.


    In 2015, farmers in California's Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, which grow roughly 30% of the strawberries in the U.S., reported $13 million in losses because they lacked enough labor to harvest their crops in a timely manner.


    Last year, vegetable farmers in the two counties reported they had 22% fewer workers than needed on average, while berry farmers put the worker shortage at 26%, according to a survey conducted by a local growers association.


    "It's been a dire and ongoing problem for a few years," said Claire Wineman, the association's president.


    Last week, Mr. Trump unveiled legislation alongside two Republican senators that would make the U.S. immigration system more merit-based and change how the country issues permanent resident cards to foreigners with the aim of raising wages. The proposal doesn't address temporary worker visas.


    In early July, Mr. Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico agreed to explore new ways of allowing Mexican guest workers into the U.S., but stopped short of committing to an expansion of existing visa programs.


    Mexico's government argues that the guest-worker programs help tamp down on illegal border crossings, a Trump administration priority.


    "If there are possibilities to have legal, temporary immigration, that deals with the problem of the work force supply, and then you won't have an illegal immigration problem," said Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico's economy minister.


    The U.S., Mexico and Canada are set to start renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement on Aug. 16.

    Mr. Guajardo said the renegotiation would likely address Nafta's professional visa program, which allows some skilled workers to live and work in Nafta countries.


    Advocates for migrants have pushed to expand that program to include a broader range of professions. But U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a recent interview that the Nafta talks likely won't address the concerns by U.S. growers about labor shortages.


    Temporary worker visas are controversial in Washington. In May, a bipartisan group of four U.S. senators wrote to the DHS urging it not to raise the cap on H-2B visas. They argued the program "puts all workers at risk" by eliminating U.S. jobs and depressing wages for American laborers, and by allowing some employers to abuse foreign guest workers, deprive them of wages and engage in human trafficking.


    Immigration lawyers and migrant-rights groups say fraud in the recruitment of temporary workers is rising.


    "We're really seeing an explosion in the H-2A program," said Rachel Micah-Jones, founder of the Center for Migrant Rights, a Mexico City organization that provides legal services to guest workers. "And we're hearing from workers that they're feeling more vulnerable."


    The organization received 242 complaints related to fraud and other abuse by recruiters of Mexican guest workers in 2016. Complaints have risen by 30% so far this year.


    Some employers garnish wages to cover the cost of transporting and housing workers, or discriminate against workers based on age or gender. Some recruiters charge fees to workers for scheduling visa interviews and arranging job contracts with U.S. companies, which is illegal under both U.S. and Mexican law.


    José Gabriel Mayorga, a 23-year-old who earns less than the equivalent of $6 a day working in fields of corn and beans in a mountainous region of Mexico's central Hidalgo state, paid close to $2,000 in June to a recruiter who promised him and his cousin 11-month contracts to pick lettuce and cucumbers in Ohio for $1,300 a week.


    After taking the money, allegedly for administrative fees to process their visas, the recruiter disappeared, Mr. Mayorga said.


    "Every day we hear about more and more fraud," said Adareli Ponce Hernández, an activist in Hidalgo who helps workers seeking temporary visas.

    Ms. Ponce worked for five years at a chocolate factory in Louisiana on an H-2B visa. When she tried to apply for a new job with higher wages, she was deceived three times by shady recruiters, she said.


    "It's a fundamental part of this that there be transparency in recruitment," she said.

    http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/...rk-in-u-s.html

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  2. #2
    MW
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    Temporary worker visas are controversial in Washington. In May, a bipartisan group of four U.S. senators wrote to the DHS urging it not to raise the cap on H-2B visas. They argued the program "puts all workers at risk" by eliminating U.S. jobs and depressing wages for American laborers, and by allowing some employers to abuse foreign guest workers, deprive them of wages and engage in human trafficking.
    Thanks you for not listening, President Trump, and former Secretary of DHS, Kelly.

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    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    There are lots of Americans who would work these jobs if they knew food, housing and transportation were available. Have these employers ever thought of treating the American workers the same as they treat the visa workers with these same types of benefits? They used to provide housing when my Dad and cousin worked these jobs when they were young, I don't know about food and transportation. My Dad and his buddy rode on the back of a pick up truck all the way from the midwest to California to pick fruit. They made good money but Dad took his shirt off and got a terrible sunburn. But everything else was good. I think you'd be surprised how many people would sign up for these jobs if food, housing and transportation were part of the deal on top of a decent wage. Therefore, I oppose these visas for now. I guess it's too late for this year, but next year Trump needs to have conferences, tweets and rallies to promote these jobs to Americans, since businesses seem incapable of doing so themselves.
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    MW
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    Quote Originally Posted by Judy View Post
    There are lots of Americans who would work these jobs if they knew food, housing and transportation were available. Have these employers ever thought of treating the American workers the same as they treat the visa workers with these same types of benefits? They used to provide housing when my Dad and cousin worked these jobs when they were young, I don't know about food and transportation. My Dad and his buddy rode on the back of a pick up truck all the way from the midwest to California to pick fruit. They made good money but Dad took his shirt off and got a terrible sunburn. But everything else was good. I think you'd be surprised how many people would sign up for these jobs if food, housing and transportation were part of the deal on top of a decent wage. Therefore, I oppose these visas for now. I guess it's too late for this year, but next year Trump needs to have conferences, tweets and rallies to promote these jobs to Americans, since businesses seem incapable of doing so themselves.
    Sorry, there doesn't seem to be a 'like' button anymore. However, I do like your post.

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    Senior Member Scott-in-FL's Avatar
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    This is almost like an addictive drug for these businesses. They will keep wanting and needing more. The more they use, the more dependent they become. These people are like commodity's to them. The migrants are tied to the job and they're disposable at the end.
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    MW
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott-in-FL View Post
    This is almost like an addictive drug for these businesses. They will keep wanting and needing more. The more they use, the more dependent they become. These people are like commodity's to them. The migrants are tied to the job and they're disposable at the end.
    Yep, and as we all know, it's all about greed and 'cheaper' labor.

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    Like, like, like to all of the above. Geez, I really really DO MISS the like button and the smaller size with the leading articles column. Don't know if this is the permanent thing or if it's still work in progress, but please fix and make it the way it was.
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    My husband's family were migrant farm workers, and I believe there are Americans who would do the work again.

    Just a few miles from us an older man had a truck farm and he worked dozens of high school boys during the summer, weekends and after work.

    If and that is an if, workers are needed, make them totally temporary, with the farmer putting up a deposit which will be returned when the workers are all returned home.

    There are many of the jobs that could be done by machinery. If needed, more would be invented. Isn't it time we move into the 21st Century in that respect?

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