The H-2 visa enables hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to come to America to fill short-term, menial jobs. But there is one part of the visa which makes life quite difficult for the workers: they have to stick with their designated employer — or else get deported. So, the employer can make life hard for these workers. They have been cheated out of their wages, locked up in horrifying conditions, threatened, beaten, even raped. And the government, which is supposed to make sure employers are treating them fairly, admits there is not much it can do.
Some employers prefer H-2 workers, who are more vulnerable, more afraid of deportation, and more desperate for the money — and therefore less likely to complain about low pay and unfair conditions. So they play games to avoid complying with the rules. Obligated to place help wanted ads, they put them in tiny newspapers hundreds of miles away from the actual job site. Or they post the job at government employment centers, but neglect to include any contact information or whereabouts. Sometimes to please regulators they hire Americans, then almost immediately fire them, en masse.
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