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Expanding Guest Worker Program Would Be Tragic |
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
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The cornerstone of the Bush administration’s immigration reform is to increase the number of guest workers allowed to work here on a temporary basis. Every year, thousands of immigrant workers from Mexico, South America, Asia and other countries clean hotel rooms, pick produce, process seafood and build homes and commercial office buildings.
But, in return for the labor they perform, these workers often are exploited ruthlessly, often cheated out of their already low wages and some are forced to live in conditions that could best be described as modern-day slavery. “Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States” was released yesterday at a press conference in Washington, D.C. It is a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center that details the widespread abuse of workers in the current guest worker programs. |
