Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tweet[IWS] CRS: IMMIGRATION: GUEST WORKER PROGRAMS--POLICY CONSIDERATIONS [updated 28 May 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL32044
Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs
Updated May 28, 2008
Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32044_20080528.pdf
[full-text, 49 pages]
Summary
At present, the United States has two main programs for temporarily importing
low-skilled workers, sometimes referred to as guest workers. Agricultural guest
workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest workers enter through
the H-2B visa program. Employers interested in importing workers under either
program must first apply to the U.S. Department of Labor for a certification that U.S.
workers capable of performing the work are not available and that the employment
of alien workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of
similarly employed U.S. workers. Other requirements of the programs differ.
A variety of bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to make changes
to the H-2A and H-2B programs and the �H� visa category generally, and to establish
new temporary worker visas. The 109th Congress revised the H-2B program in the
FY2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-13). Among the
changes, a temporary provision was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) to exempt certain returning H-2B workers from the H-2B annual numerical
cap of 66,000. The FY2007 Department of Defense authorization bill (P.L. 109-364)
extended this exemption through FY2007. The exemption expired on September 30,
2007. A number of bills before the 110th Congress (S. 988, S. 2839, H.R. 1843, H.R.
5233, H.R. 5495, H.R. 5849) would reenact an H-2B returning worker exemption.
Other guest worker bills introduced in the 110th Congress include proposals to
reform the H-2A program (S. 237/S. 340/H.R. 371, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 1792)
and the H-2B program (S. 1639, S. 2094), and to establish new temporary worker
visas (S. 330, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 2413). Some of these bills also would
establish mechanisms for certain foreign workers to become legal permanent
residents (LPRs). The Senate debated, but failed to invoke cloture on, S. 1639 in
June 2007.
President George W. Bush proposed a new, expanded temporary worker
program in January 2004 when he announced his principles for immigration reform,
and has since reiterated his support for such a program. In August 2007, following
the unsuccessful cloture vote in the Senate on S. 1639, the Bush Administration
announced that it would seek to streamline the existing H-2A and H-2B programs
within current law. In February 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published proposed rules to
significantly amend their respective H-2A regulations.
The current discussion of guest worker programs takes place against a backdrop
of historically high levels of unauthorized migration to the United States, and one
question that often arises about proposals for new guest worker programs is whether
they would enable participants to obtain LPR status. Other issues raised in
connection with guest worker proposals include how new program requirements
would compare with those of the H-2A and H-2B programs and how the eligible
population would be defined. This report will be updated as legislative developments
occur.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Current Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
H-2A Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
H-2A Visas Issued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
H-2B Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
H-2B Visas Issued and the Statutory Cap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Unauthorized Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Unauthorized Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Legislation in the 110th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
H-2B Returning Worker Exemption Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S. 1639 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Agricultural Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Y Nonimmigrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Z Nonimmigrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
S. 237/S. 340/H.R. 371 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
H.R. 1645 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
S. 330 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
H.R. 1792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
H.R. 2413 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
S. 2094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Bush Administration Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Policy Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Comparison of Program Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Eligible Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Legalization of Program Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Treatment of Family Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Labor Market Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Numerical Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Homeland Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix. Guest Worker Legislation in the 105th-109th Congresses . . . . . . . . . 27
Legislation in the 105th-107th Congresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Legislation in the 108th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
S. 1645/H.R. 3142 and S. 2823 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
H.R. 3604 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
S. 2185 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
S. 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
S. 2381/H.R. 4262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
H.R. 3534 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
S. 1387 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
S. 1461/H.R. 2899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
H.R. 3651 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Legislation in the 109th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
S. 352/H.R. 793 and Related H-2B Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
S. 2611 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
S. 359/H.R. 884 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
H.R. 3857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
S. 2087 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
S. 278 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
H.R. 1587 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
S. 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
H.R. 3333 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
S. 1033/H.R. 2330 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
S. 1438 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
H.R. 4065 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
List of Figures
Figure 1. H-2A Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Figure 2. H-2B Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
List of Tables
Table 1. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Industries, 2005 . . 8
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL32044
Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs
Updated May 28, 2008
Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy, Domestic Social Policy Division
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL32044_20080528.pdf
[full-text, 49 pages]
Summary
At present, the United States has two main programs for temporarily importing
low-skilled workers, sometimes referred to as guest workers. Agricultural guest
workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest workers enter through
the H-2B visa program. Employers interested in importing workers under either
program must first apply to the U.S. Department of Labor for a certification that U.S.
workers capable of performing the work are not available and that the employment
of alien workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of
similarly employed U.S. workers. Other requirements of the programs differ.
A variety of bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to make changes
to the H-2A and H-2B programs and the �H� visa category generally, and to establish
new temporary worker visas. The 109th Congress revised the H-2B program in the
FY2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-13). Among the
changes, a temporary provision was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) to exempt certain returning H-2B workers from the H-2B annual numerical
cap of 66,000. The FY2007 Department of Defense authorization bill (P.L. 109-364)
extended this exemption through FY2007. The exemption expired on September 30,
2007. A number of bills before the 110th Congress (S. 988, S. 2839, H.R. 1843, H.R.
5233, H.R. 5495, H.R. 5849) would reenact an H-2B returning worker exemption.
Other guest worker bills introduced in the 110th Congress include proposals to
reform the H-2A program (S. 237/S. 340/H.R. 371, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 1792)
and the H-2B program (S. 1639, S. 2094), and to establish new temporary worker
visas (S. 330, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 2413). Some of these bills also would
establish mechanisms for certain foreign workers to become legal permanent
residents (LPRs). The Senate debated, but failed to invoke cloture on, S. 1639 in
June 2007.
President George W. Bush proposed a new, expanded temporary worker
program in January 2004 when he announced his principles for immigration reform,
and has since reiterated his support for such a program. In August 2007, following
the unsuccessful cloture vote in the Senate on S. 1639, the Bush Administration
announced that it would seek to streamline the existing H-2A and H-2B programs
within current law. In February 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published proposed rules to
significantly amend their respective H-2A regulations.
The current discussion of guest worker programs takes place against a backdrop
of historically high levels of unauthorized migration to the United States, and one
question that often arises about proposals for new guest worker programs is whether
they would enable participants to obtain LPR status. Other issues raised in
connection with guest worker proposals include how new program requirements
would compare with those of the H-2A and H-2B programs and how the eligible
population would be defined. This report will be updated as legislative developments
occur.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Current Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
H-2A Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
H-2A Visas Issued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
H-2B Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
H-2B Visas Issued and the Statutory Cap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Unauthorized Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Unauthorized Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Legislation in the 110th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
H-2B Returning Worker Exemption Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S. 1639 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Agricultural Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Y Nonimmigrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Z Nonimmigrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
S. 237/S. 340/H.R. 371 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
H.R. 1645 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
S. 330 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
H.R. 1792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
H.R. 2413 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
S. 2094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Bush Administration Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Policy Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Comparison of Program Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Eligible Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Legalization of Program Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Treatment of Family Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Labor Market Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Numerical Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Homeland Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix. Guest Worker Legislation in the 105th-109th Congresses . . . . . . . . . 27
Legislation in the 105th-107th Congresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Legislation in the 108th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
S. 1645/H.R. 3142 and S. 2823 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
H.R. 3604 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
S. 2185 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
S. 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
S. 2381/H.R. 4262 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
H.R. 3534 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
S. 1387 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
S. 1461/H.R. 2899 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
H.R. 3651 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Legislation in the 109th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
S. 352/H.R. 793 and Related H-2B Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
S. 2611 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
S. 359/H.R. 884 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
H.R. 3857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
S. 2087 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
S. 278 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
H.R. 1587 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
S. 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
H.R. 3333 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
S. 1033/H.R. 2330 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
S. 1438 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
H.R. 4065 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
List of Figures
Figure 1. H-2A Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Figure 2. H-2B Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
List of Tables
Table 1. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Industries, 2005 . . 8
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