Be Whose Guest Exactly?

Measure to remove guest worker program from bill fails

The Senate on Tuesday defeated a measure that would have eliminated the guest worker program from the bipartisan immigration legislation announced last week.

The amendment, introduced by North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan, was rejected with a 64-31 vote.

The immigration bill is the result of a deal struck after nearly three months of bipartisan talks and endorsed by the White House last week. It would offer the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States a path to citizenship, boost border controls and establish a guest-worker program that would grant two-year residency for up to 400,000 people.

The Senate still has to debate and vote on an amendment being offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico. His proposal would cut the guest worker program in half.

Many Democrats don't like the program because they think it drives down wages for American workers and creates a permanent underclass of immigrant workers.

Republicans generally favor a strong guest worker program because businesses say they need the labor.

I must say I'm with the disaffected Democrats on this one. If the bill was strictly limited to seasonal agricultural work I'd be OK with it, but you know it will not be used that way. For example, it is well known that slaughterhouses like to use cheaper illegal labor NOT because they couldn't find Americans willing to do the work, but because they cannot find Americans willing to do the work for minimum wage. However, if you have an ever rotating series of "temporary" workers who would probably work for under the minimum wage, you are permanently removing those jobs from the American worker. You are definitely suppressing the wages of American workers as well.

Additionally, given the problems we already have with other types of "guests" over staying their visas, isn't it likely that all this guest worker program will accomplish is to make it easier for 400,000 people a year to illegally immigrate to the United States?

I know that sounded rhetorical, but the answer is "yes".