U.S. "guest" worker program exploitative: report

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Workers who come to the United States on short term, seasonal contracts are routinely exploited and have few legal safeguards, according to a report issued on Monday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Under the "guest" worker program, employers recruit tens of thousands of unskilled workers from their home countries, tying jobs and visas to their employer.

The system gives these employers unusual power which is further strengthened by the common practice of confiscating identity papers and travel documents, effectively nullifying worker rights, said the report titled "Close to Slavery."

"Workers are abused fairly systematically. This is not a question of bad employers. It's built into the structure of the program," said Mary Bauer, director of the immigrant justice project for the Center.

"There are few legal rights and the legal rights that do exist are almost never enforced .... Right now it (the program) is the subject of chronic, shameful abuses," Bauer said in an interview.

Many workers pay thousands of dollars to recruiters for jobs and visas. They sign over deeds for property or cars in their home country as collateral, leaving them with crippling debts carrying high rates of interest.

In one example, workers recruited from Peru, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic by a major hotel company in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 paid up to $5,000, or around three to four months wages, the report said.

Many live in sub-standard housing and get little compensation or medical care in the event of an accident. Some earn wages below the federal minimum but have little legal redress and regulations are often not enforced.

But few of the workers complain for fear they will be deported or blacklisted, preventing any future employment.

EXPANDING THE SYSTEM?

Most guest workers are recruited from Mexico, but some come from other Latin American states, Jamaica and Asian countries like Thailand and Cambodia.

They are usually poor, lack education and many cannot read English, putting them at a disadvantage.

The program was set up to recruit workers for industries such as forestry, agriculture and seafood processing that struggled to find U.S. seasonal workers and attracts employees who lack opportunities in their home country.

It is seen as an essential part of reform proposed because of disquiet over millions of illegal immigrants and under mooted legislation it would be expanded to bring in hundreds of thousands of new guest workers each year.

Policymakers are unaware of the problems in the existing system because guest workers are often employed in rural areas where there is little scrutiny, Bauer said.

"Let's just look at what we have. A small guest worker program now is terrible. What makes us believe that a giant guest worker program is going to be better," she said.

Around 32,000 people were employed under the "H-2A" program in 2005 whose benefits include free housing and limited free travel to and from the home country, medical benefits and guaranteed work of at least 75 percent of the hours promised.

Some 90,000 workers were employed under the "H-2B" program, which has few such protections and guarantees.

The Center was founded in Alabama in 1971 to practice civil rights law and is a leading advocate against hate groups.