Instead of eliminating the present program. the committee voted to expand it. The changes adopted facilitate the entry of hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers. thus increasing the economic incentives for recruiting H2 workers. This will only increase this countrys dependence on cheap foreign labor to the detriment of U.S. migrant workers. Since the inception of the H2 program in 1952. the use of agricultural workers has not exceeded 30.000 annually. Employers who utilize the H2 program are exempt from certain tax obligations. Neither the foreign worker nor the employer have to pay social security taxes (FICA). This means that an employer can save 6 percent of his cost by hiring an H2 alien rather than an American citizen. Additionally. growers do not have to pay unemployment insurance taxes on wages paid to foreign contract labor. thereby saving an additional 2 to 4 percent more on their taxable payroll. As a result of the amendments adopted to H.R. 7357. most restrictions which protect domestic workers have been weakened. Displacement of U.S. agricultural workers is more likely to occur as are civil rights violations against foreign workers.
Keywords matched
contract labor migrant