migrant workers

More than 100,000 temporary workers are recruited abroad for employment in the United States each year under the H-2 temporary worker program in industries such as agriculture and hospitality. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, a MacArthur grantee, has released a report on substantial defects in the current H-2 program’s recruitment systems, stating that many temporary workers are routinely subjected to fraud, charged illegal fees, and threatened, intimidated, and mistreated by recruiters and employers. The report proposes changes to help prevent worker exploitation and abuse, including a suggested overhaul of the H-2 guestworker program.