PROGRAM CONNECTS MEXICAN WORKERS WITH NEEDY US EMPLOYERS

As the strong US economy continues and unemployment continues to drop, US businesses are increasingly turning to Mexican workers.  More and more, US companies are becoming willing to go through often tedious immigration processes to ensure that the workers are legal, and are finding that there are benefits in the effort for both the US and Mexico.

A pilot program based in the north central Mexican state of Zacatecas may be the answer that many are looking for.  Established by US diplomats and the Governor of Zacatecas, Ricardo Monreal, the program helps US businesses find willing workers.  Most of the workers come to the US on H-2B visas, which are used for temporary unskilled workers.  The program has been so successful that US officials are planning to expand the program.

The program is the first government-sponsored effort to recruit workers from Mexico since the end of the bracero program in 1964.  Incoming Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has spoken out about the dependent on Mexican workers in the US, and has called for fewer restrictions on Mexicans seeking to work in the US, has said that he will ask the US government to increase the number of H-2B visas available each year.

While an increase is unlikely, at this point it is also unnecessary.  Last year the INS issued 17,285 H-2B visas, well below the annual limit of 66,000.  However, numbers show that the use of the H-2B program is growing, and people on both sides of the border hope that programs like the one in Zacatecas will increase its use.

Because workers with H-2B visas are legally in the US, they are protected by US labor laws, and are not subject to the intimidation and threats that undocumented workers often receive from employers.  Also, the H-2B program requires that workers be paid the prevailing wage, which means that they have more to send home to their families.

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