Immigration offices along border to issue work visas, very expensive ?

[steve2470]

I have pondered this immigration issue for months. My modest proposal is to establish a string of immigration offices all along the border to issue work visas to immigrants wishing to work in the USA. This would solve two problems: the immigrants would then be legal and the USA employers would have workers legally. Would this be incredibly expensive to implement ? What do you think ?

[DBoon]

1. Sure

Wuld allow some basic background checks for things like criminal records.

Most immigrants likely want to come here to work for a bit, then go home. Work is seasonal, and I assume they would not want to uproot their families for seasonal work.

Might make enforcing labor laws more easy - if the workers are legal. Maybe require the employer to have a permit to hire non-citizens, and revoke that permit for labor law violations.

[Gyre]

2. shrub is so serious about illegal immigration

that the INS office in N. California is no longer bothering putting Immigration Hold's on illegals charged with serious felonies. They couldn't care less about this country.

Gyre

[steve2470]

5. Incredible. Homeland security yoo hooooooooooo ? nt

[Robert Oak]

3. work Visas

The problem with work Visas is they can be used for labor arbitrage
and also the corporation controls the status of the worker. If the worker does anything (say organize labor :)) the employer does not like, the employer can fire the worker and have them deported.

Case in point is the H-1B Visa. Originally this Visa was designed to bring in expertise that one could not find in this country. Things like advanced degreed engineers with exceptional skills, scientists and so forth. But, what happened is they started using the H-1B for labor arbitrage and to replace American engineers at much cheaper prices. The worker under an H-1B is making 20% to 70% less than a prevailing American counterpart in the same job. They also are now claiming the MSc (a college degree given in Europe, Asia, India and so forth) is equal to a US Masters degree. It isn't, it's accredited as a US Bachelors degree. Unemployment in highly specialized fields has increased dramatically since 2001 and it's not the "Dot Con" bust, it's this and offshore outsourcing.

So, the question is do you wish to continue with cheap labor prices or raise the standard of living? Employer will go for the cheap price every time. Maybe some of those outrageous CEO bonuses would have to be cut in order to pay workers a living wage then.

I think it would be better to make legal (I have a "earned legal status" idea based on a set of criteria) illegal aliens already here than to pump out more worker Visas. The question is what is the unemployment rate in the United States really and a fear is that
unskilled labor guest worker VISAs might be used to cut wages even below minimum wage. Corporations have already used illegals to significantly depress wages, in such areas as construction, roofing, housekeeping, meatpacking (this one is dramatic) and so forth. Some of these used to be high paying union jobs, now they are more of the "can't make the rent" jobs that the US is busy "creating" under the Bush economic system.

[steve2470]

4. I think another problem, which I doubt will be addressed,

is that the current immigration laws are not going to be enforced consistently and fairly, even for Northern European immigrants to avoid the racism charge. The big employers, unless they are stopped, are going to continue the current pattern of hiring illegals of all races to cut their labor prices.

[Robert Oak]

7. absolutely

Getting the focus on the real agenda of multinational corporations on immigration policy and border security is one of the biggest reasons I talk about this.

What's in the pipe is downright "1984" scary. Right now, there are proposals to have workers be "commodities to be traded" in WTO, GATS mode 4 and thus any immigration policy out of the hands of the nation-state and a rule that can be seen as a "barrier to trade" and "challenged" in the WTO...
If this succeeds, it would blow away a huge reason nation-states exist..an organization of a nation to create a society desired by it's members (citizens).

Multinational corporations would have so much control over a worker, where they live, if they get paid, how much and so on. Truly frightening.

[unlawflcombatnt]

8. Great Post

Robert,

I completely agree with you about the visas. Doctors, nurses, and even attorneys are being replaced by H1B visas. Democratic Congressional candidate Cynthia Matthews from California posted extensive information on this on her website. She gave hundreds of specific job openings that had been filled by an H1B visa holder.

I also think you should post your response as separate opening post.

The constant increase in American labor supply and the constant loss of jobs is reducing American wages. It reduces wages directly by increaseing the supply:demand ratio. It reduces them indirectly by reducing aggregate labor and consumer income. This reduces consumer spending, consumer demand for production, and the demand for labor to provide that production. Low wages have a negative feedback relationship - they further reduce consumer spending & demand which drives wages down even further.

unlawflcombatnt

[Robert Oak]

6. here's another element

I think guest worker Visas have a xenophobic aspect embedded in them.

It says "you can work here and earn less money than citizens" but you cannot have the same protections and rights as citizens in the country you are now in.

"Guest" worker used to be that, a respected guest. Now it's a different message.

I fear a creation of a permanent underclass, similar to Kuwait, Switzerland, Turkey and other nations to bring in foreigners to do their "servant" class jobs. Two standards of treatment based on citizenship for the same type of job.