Guest Worker Program

[mr-pirk]

Can someone explain to me, exactly why we need a guest worker program?

What exactly is so different about this decade from all the others past?

We had some chain-link fence panels built for the company I work for. I was talking to the fence contractor about how his business was going. He said that it wasn"™t looking like he was going to be able to stay in business because he couldn"™t find labor at a price that would allow him to remain competitive. He said almost of his competition is using Mexican labor.
(It was strongly suggested most of the Mexican workers were illegal. Having worked with one of his competitors laborers I have little doubt that in fact most, if not all, of them were illegal.)

How do we treat this problem? By forcing his competition to only hire with in legal hiring practices?

No, our government wants to treat the symptoms of the problem instead of the problem.

Both sides of the aisle want to introduce a "œGuest Worker Program"�.

I can tell you that here in Arkansas; a guest worker program isn"™t going to solve the problem.
How is the government going to enforce the mandates of a guest worker program when that same government can"™t/won"™t enforce the hiring laws already on the books?

All that the program would do is to make it easier to camouflage the hiring of illegal laborers.

Can someone explain to me how introducing another de facto immigration program is going to fix the lack of enforcement of the existing immigration laws?

I call it a de facto immigration program because of this:

How do you determine how long a "œguest-worker"� stays?
(Man I hate that phrase, "œguests"� are invited. They don"™t sneak in the back door.)

How long does Tyson chicken get to keep their "œguest-workers"� here? The job they are doing is a year-round job.

What happens if there is a time-limit set? Send them back home for a two week vacation yearly and then bring them right back?

Think about where that slippery slope winds up.

Why would GM, Ford Motor or ATT be excluded from using "œguest-workers"�?

Surely they have the same desire to hire cheaper labor. Your answer might be that the unions would prevent that from happening.
I can tell you that, from what I have seen, our generation is witnessing the beginning of the end for the Labor Unions.

Free-Trade agreements without some sort of basic worker rights clause was the death blow. It is just all happening in slow motion.

The guest-workers aren"™t skilled enough to do that sort of work?

What would keep employers from retaining the cheaper labor long enough to train them?


Why are both sides of the aisle cheerfully agreeing that a guest-worker program is a good thing? (From what I am understanding, the disagreement between the sides is mainly over the lack of reform in the legal immigrations policies. To my mind they are two separate issues.)

As FNG used to say, folks are "œsheeple"�.

What good will come from making it easier to hire cheap labor from south of the boarder?

Thanks
Mr-Pirk

[kevin1]

The simple answer is to practice what we preach , welcome the wretched refuse , but only once they've gone through the same process that every single immigrant group that has preceded them endured . Everybody else need not apply .