Foreign Guest Worker Describes Abuse by U.S. Company скачать в хорошем качестве

Foreign Guest Worker Describes Abuse by U.S. Company

When Blas Burboa Leyva of Michoacan, Mexico heard about the H-2A guest worker program in the United States, which allows employers to bring in foreign farmworkers for seasonal jobs, it sounded like a good way to cover the expense of law school. But Blas quickly discovered the abusive nature of America's guest worker program for farmworkers and other low-skill laborers. It began even before he started his job. First, he had to pay a fee to a recruiter to reserve his spot as a worker for a tomato-packing operation in Arkansas. He also had to pay his own way to the United States. These costs were so great that after his first year as a guest worker, Blas made only enough money to cover his expenses. There wasn't any opportunity for overtime, because the company didn't pay overtime -- even when the guest workers endured 18-hour days. Yet they kept working because if they were fired and sent home in debt, it would mean financial ruin. And he couldn't look for other work, because guest workers can't legally change jobs. They're bound, like the indentured servants of a bygone era, to the employers who "import" them. "We didn't complain because we were afraid of the company," Blas said. "Really, you're afraid. You signed a contract; you have to fulfill it, right? That's what the law requires." So, he kept working, even when his co-workers were fainting and vomiting from the brutal conditions. He kept working when his supervisor became abusive or showed up for work drunk. He kept working because he had no other choice. Blas' experience illustrates why any comprehensive immigration reform legislation that creates a new guest worker program or expands the current one must include protections to end such abuse. Several plans to overhaul the nation's immigration system, including Senate bill 744, contain important protections for U.S. and foreign workers that must be preserved as the legislation moves forward.