Is it a cynical attempt at amnesty? Or is it a way to offer work to migrants who only want work, and prefer to keep their current citizenship?
The latter is an issue you don't hear about as much- folks who just want a season of working in the fields, then going back home. Not everyone working here, wants citizenship here. What you hear very little about, is how much help from our social safety net such guest workers would be able to expect.
Personally, I think we have enough people willing to do "menial labor"- except most US citizens can expect reasonable measures to keep the workplace safe, be compensated for on the job injuries, and seek legal redress for gross violation of labor laws- which is why Walmart is kept sweating. Worker rights cost money that many employers would rather not pay, if they can get around it. Migrant workers don't enjoy nearly such protections. Would they under the guest worker program?
Do we want a sea of semi-citizens here? A guest-worker program makes me really leery- too much room for exploitation of the guest workers, and by extension, US workers. We could certainly increase the number of new citizens we allow in each year, but a "prudent amount" would still be nowhere near the demand to come into the country. |
