Some More Proposed Amendments For The Senate
05/18/2006
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The President and a significant number of Senators appear to be intent upon pushing out guest worker legislation. Given that we have already shown that neither illegal aliens nor guest workers are needed to prop up the US economy now or in the foreseeable future, we are forced to conclude that the purpose of these guestworkers is to reduce the labor costs of employers, and to enable employers to offer a decent likelihood of US citizenship-free of charge. Why does the phrase corporate stooges come to mind?

If these senators are so committed to their corporate supporters that they persist in a advocating a guest worker program, then a few simple protections would reduce its burden on citizen taxpayers and avoid having the phrase "guest worker" continue to be a code word for slave (or in not too egregious cases, indentured servant). So, some proposed amendments:

1. The number of guest worker visas should be keyed to jobs growth in the United States. If Jobs growth relative to the workforce of American citizenship shrinks, then the number of guest worker visas should be gradually curtailed.

2. Guest worker visas should not be offered to work in geographic areas in which US citizens are moving out.

3. Companies sponsoring guest worker visas should bear responsibility and full civil liability for the criminal actions and accidents of their guest worker employees and their dependents, including all costs of prosecution, legal defense, and imprisonment.

4. Any guest worker should be able to return home at any time at employer expense. Guest workers returning after being denied citizenship should be provided a generous resettlement allowance at employer expense.

5. Guest worker visa fees should be raised to include funding for legal fees so that it is more difficult for employers to legally abuse these vulnerable employees.

6. Free medical, dental and vision care should be provided at employer expense to all guest workers and their dependents both in the US and Mexico so that the cost will no longer fall on emergency rooms and hospital overhead.

7. All children of guest workers shall be educated in the guest workers home country, or the employer shall reimburse the schools for the cost of their education in the US.

8. The IRS and SSA should immediately start reporting likely use of false Social Security Numbers to employers and require the employer to sort this out.

9. Employers should pay the fair market value for the visas they sponsor. Those visas should be priced so that they are always readily available. This might be done by an auction of the fixed supply of visas—or simply rasing prices of the visas gradually until some are unused.

I really find this whole practice of using US citizenship as a corporate benefit highly offensive. However, these are basic protections that I would like to think that any conscientious senator would be hard pressed to object to.

They may claim that this bill isn't going to be used to replace US workers—and if it isn't the first clauses wouldn't kick in. They may claim that the guest workers aren't going to be abused-so why wouldn't they acception the protections I'm suggesting? They may claim that guest workers will not place additional burdens on the infrastructure, then the corporations shouldn't mind paying to ensure that at least some of the public costs are covered. They may claim it isn't a subsidy to business, then they shouldn't object to having businesses pay fair marked value for guestworker visas.

And, if they object to these amendments, then what does that say about them?

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