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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
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Congressional Research Service (CRS)

 

Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs

Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy

March 16, 2010

http://opencrs.com/document/RL32044/2010-03-16/download/1013/

[full-text, 47 pages]

 

Summary

The United States has two main programs for temporarily importing low-skilled workers, or guest

workers. Agricultural guest workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest

workers enter through the H-2B visa program. Before an employer can file a petition with the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to import workers under either program, the

employer must apply to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) 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.

 

In December 2008, DHS and DOL published final rules to significantly amend their H-2A and H-

2B regulations. The new rules became effective on January 17, 2009. Under the Obama

Administration, DOL proposed a new H-2A rule to replace the 2008 rule. This rule was published

in final form in February 2010 and went into effect on March 15, 2010. The Administration left

intact the 2008 H-2A rule issued by DHS and the 2008 H-2B rules issued by DHS and DOL.

 

The DHS 2008 H-2A and H-2B rules modify previous limitations on H-2A and H-2B workers’

periods of stay in the United States. The rules also establish new requirements under both visas.

They prohibit payments by prospective H-2A or H-2B workers to employers, recruiters, or other

employment service providers where the payments are a condition of obtaining H-2A or H-2B

employment, and provide for the denial or revocation of petitions in the event of petitioner

violations. Among the other new requirements applicable to both programs, the DHS rules limit

participation in the H-2A and H-2B programs to nationals of designated countries.

 

DOL’s 2008 H-2B rule replaces the labor certification process with an attestation-based process,

in which employers attest in their applications, under threat of penalties, that they have complied

with program requirements. Among other changes to DOL’s H-2B regulations, the new rule

establishes a system of post-certification audits of H-2B employer applications.

 

DOL’s 2010 H-2A rule reverses some major changes to the H-2A program that were included in

its 2008 rule. Under the new rule, prospective H-2A employers must go through the traditional

labor certification process and are subject to the adverse effect wages rate, as calculated prior to

the 2008 rule. In addition, the 2010 rule calls for the creation of a new electronic registry for H-

2A job opportunities, and retains a system of post-certification audits of H-2A employer

applications that was included in the 2008 rule.

 

Various bills have been introduced in recent years to make changes to the H-2A and H-2B

programs and to establish new temporary worker visas. In the 111th Congress, AgJOBS bills

(H.R. 2414, S. 1038) propose to reform the H-2A program and establish a legalization program

for agricultural workers, and H-2B bills variously seek to reform the H-2B program (H.R. 4381,

S. 2910) and to reenact, in different forms, an expired provision to exempt certain returning

workers from the H-2B cap of 66,000 (H.R. 1136, H.R. 1934, S. 388).

 

The current discussion of guest worker programs takes place against a backdrop of high levels of

unauthorized migration to the United States, leading to various questions, such as whether new

guest worker proposals would enable participants to obtain legal permanent resident (LPR) status.

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

DHS and DOL H-2A Regulations....................................................................................4

H-2B Program.......................................................................................................................6

H-2B Visas Issued and the Statutory Cap.........................................................................7

DHS and DOL H-2B Regulations....................................................................................8

Unauthorized Immigration ..........................................................................................................9

Legislation in the 111th Congress ............................................................................................... 11

AgJOBS Bills ..................................................................................................................... 11

H-2B Bills ..........................................................................................................................12

Policy Considerations ...............................................................................................................13

Comparison of Program Requirements ................................................................................13

Eligible Population..............................................................................................................14

Legalization of Program Participants...................................................................................14

Treatment of Family Members ............................................................................................15

Labor Market Test...............................................................................................................16

Numerical Limits ................................................................................................................17

Enforcement .......................................................................................................................17

Homeland Security..............................................................................................................18

Conclusion...............................................................................................................................18

Figures

Figure 1. H-2A Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2009............................................................................3

Figure 2. H-2B Visas Issued, FY1992-FY2009............................................................................8

Tables

Table 1. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Occupations, 2008 .......................10

Table 2. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Industries, 2008 ........................... 11

Appendixes

Appendix. Guest Worker Legislation in the 105th-110th Congresses............................................19

________________________________________________________________________

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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                       
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