In response to high levels of fraud and abuse by recruiters of migrant workers seeking employment in the U.S., four MacArthur grantees launched a campaign to support workers in Mexico who receive job offers they suspect may be fraudulent. The collaborative effort by Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Instituto de Estudios y Divulgación sobre Migración, Global Workers Justice Alliance, and Proyecto de Derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales, involves training staff from Mexico’s Secretary of Labor to operate a recruitment fraud prevention hotline for migrant workers seeking H2 visas and includes a series of radio spots and print materials urging workers to call for assistance in answering their recruitment-related questions. Individuals seeking U.S. temporary work visas have few resources to consult when gauging the veracity of an employment offer. Many workers become the victims of recruitment fraud, meaning they receive a misleading job offer, are offered a job that does not exist, or are coerced into paying illegal fees to recruiters.
