Thread: Work-visa war

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-guest-wo ... full.story

Work-visa war: Critics claim guest workers streaming into state, taking jobs from Americans
Companies say foreigners do jobs Americans won't -- critics scoff

7:40 p.m. EDT, July 24, 2010


WASHINGTON — While more than a million Floridians look for work during a crippling recession, tens of thousands of foreign "guest workers" are streaming into the state and other parts of the country to fill jobs that Americans supposedly will not do.

They install insulation in Pembroke Park, sell cosmetics in Sanford, tend stables in Wellington, clean hotel rooms in Orlando, wait on restaurant customers in Palm Beach Gardens and provide a wide variety of other unskilled labor throughout the state.

They earn as little as $7.25 an hour or as much as $12, $16 or $20.

Critics say some employers abuse this federal temporary-guest-worker program -- known as H-2B -- to exploit a low-paid and compliant work force while neglecting American job seekers.

"Ask yourself: Do you really think there are no Americans who can do these jobs?" said Greg Schell, an attorney in Palm Beach County for migrant workers, many of whom are Americans. "People right now are taking jobs way below what they used to do because they are desperate. Yet we are bringing in thousands under this program because of a so-called shortage of labor."

But employers and their supporters in Washington insist they must tap a foreign work force to keep the economy humming and certain companies afloat. They are aided by new rules promoted by the George W. Bush administration that allow employers to establish a need for foreign workers by attesting — without providing proof — that they were unable to find Americans to do the work.

"It [H-2B] has helped small and seasonal businesses stay alive by providing workers for them," said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, who co-sponsored a bill to refine and extend the program. "I think it's necessary to seafood producers, landscapers and tourist resorts, pool companies, carnivals, timber companies and many other businesses all across the country."

This and other guest-worker programs are expected to come under scrutiny if Congress considers immigration-reform legislation later this year or next. Some members of Congress insist on expanding guest-worker programs as part of a reform package.

'Americans don't do this'

H-2B is especially controversial because it fills jobs most anyone could do, without migrating from place to place in any given season.

A separate H-2A program brings in farmworkers to harvest crops, such as sugar cane. Other guest-worker programs draw highly skilled foreigners to fill specialized niches.

"The basic problem is that there is insufficient concern in Congress for low-wage workers in the United States. There's not an active lobby for $9-an-hour gardeners, people like that," said Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. "Employers were hoping to get foreign workers for low wages. They got what they asked for."

Not so, says Bruce Bachand. His Orlando-based company pays up to $12.50 an hour — well over the prevailing wage of $8.79 — to get higher quality landscapers from Mexico.

"Americans don't do this type of work, even at $12.50 an hour, even in a recession," said Bachand, vice president and chief operating officer of Carol King Landscape Maintenance Inc. "They don't have the work ethic to go outdoors, get dirty and do this work with pride. Those [Americans] who do take the job see it as a short-term paycheck while looking for something else."

His company, which has tapped H-2B for 10 years, presently employs 42 foreign landscapers, most from Mexico. "We pay the freight to bring them here," Bachand said.

"The Mexican people are from an agrarian society and are used to working outdoors," he said. "They get some fulfillment from what they do. They are happy with it. And as a result, they do better quality work than the American workers we can hire."

Declining arrivals

Congress has capped new H-2B arrivals at 66,000 a year. But many are allowed to return for one or two years, which often pushes the number beyond the cap.

The number peaked at 129,547 in fiscal year 2007, just before the nation plunged into recession, and dropped to 44,847 in fiscal 2009. By that time, many employers were reluctant to hire workers of any kind amid the sluggish economic recovery.

Florida has long been one of the main destinations for guest workers. In fiscal year 2008, some 9,844 came to Florida, ranking the state third after Texas and Louisiana. Many were brought to those states to help reconstruct the Gulf Coast after a batch of hurricanes, including Katrina.

The majority come from Mexico. Most stay for up to a year before returning to their home countries, but a few are allowed to remain for two or three years. Workers are expected to pay for transportation from their homelands and for housing, though some employers provide it.

Workers say they are reluctant to complain about inadequate housing or wages for fear of being sent home early to face worse conditions and lower pay.

"We didn't get paid what we deserved," said Benito Sandoval, 48, a construction worker from Mexico, who came to rural Miami-Dade County in 2006-07.

He and other guest workers installed irrigation sprinklers, landscaped property and hung Christmas decorations on palm trees for $7.50 an hour.

"The food store was far away," he said in a telephone interview from his hometown in Mexico. "We were hungry sometimes and not able to go to the store."

Despite the hardships, Sandoval said he still hopes to return to the United States because the pay is far better than the $25 a day he makes on construction sites in Mexico.

"We just had bad luck," he said. "What I've heard is that some companies treat people well."

Enforcement

Before granting requests for foreign workers, Labor Department officials are supposed to certify that Americans are unavailable and that the arrivals would not adversely affect wages and working conditions.

Under rules issued by the Bush administration to streamline the process, employers attest through sworn statements that enough American workers cannot be found to fill the jobs. Labor officials audit a sample of employers and investigate suspicions of violations.

Immigration officials at the Department of Homeland Security clear individuals for entry, and the Bureau of Consular Affairs issues temporary travel visas.

Critics say the requirements have been loosely enforced and that Americans have little way of knowing about these jobs. But employers complain that the Obama administration has demanded more and more documentation and enforced requirements to the point of harassment.

"Employers have just been hounded," said John Meredith, who lobbies in Washington for the H-2B Workforce Coalition, comprised of employers who use the program. "It's really slowed down tremendously the ability to get the workers in."

H-2B employers hope to expand the program and allow workers to stay year-round for several years. Proposed changes, however, have been delayed until Congress takes up immigration reform.

Some members of Congress want to rein in H-2B because of concerns that it undercuts job prospects for Americans and depresses wages. But Congress may approve its expansion as part of a compromise bill that would give millions of unauthorized immigrants legal status and a path to citizenship.

William E. Gibson can be reached at wgibson@sunsentinel.com or 202-824-8256

The H-1B (for educated, skilled workers) is also very much abused. It is a main reason why white collar wages have been stagnant for about a decade.