Guest Worker Programs Have Flawed Past

[Eugene]

Guest Worker Programs Have Flawed Past

Saturday March 25, 2006 11:46 AM

By JIM ABRAMS

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Proponents of a guest worker program to address the chaos
of illegal immigration have a hard sell in front of them. Similar programs
in the past have been plagued by abuses and have done little to stem the influx
of undocumented workers.

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President Bush urged Congress two years ago to write new immigration law
with a guest worker program that could provide legal status, but not a road
to citizenship, for some of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

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Avendano of the AFL-CIO said workers were underpaid or cheated out of wages, exposed
to unsafe conditions, faced racial discrimination and were saddled with debt from recruiters
and employers. Workers were unable to exercise their rights because the employer could
have them deported. Under such conditions, she said, "Workers would rather be undocumented
because they have full mobility."

Others argue that guest worker programs create an underclass of foreign workers and
stigmatize some jobs associated with foreign labor.

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Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5710448,00.html