NYT Letter to the Editor : Guest Worker Programs

“A Framework for Managing Immigration,” by Eduardo Porter (Economic Scene column, Oct. 26), supports a proposal for a United States-Mexico temporary foreign worker program made by the Center for Global Development.

In discussing the Bracero guest worker program, the column notes the serious labor abuses that are inherent in guest worker programs but suggests that there can be solutions to prevent labor abuses in a future program. The experience with guest worker programs in the last century justifies skepticism about this claim.

An even greater concern, not discussed in the column, is the threat to our country’s democratic values posed by guest worker programs.

If this country truly needs to draw from other countries to find additional workers, such workers should be given the opportunity to become immigrants with a path to citizenship. They should not be deprived of the opportunity to earn the right to vote and participate in the civic life of this country.

Our democracy is undermined by relegating people to a temporary status and denying them the opportunity for immigration status and citizenship.

Bruce Goldstein, President Farmworker Justice

“A Framework for Managing Immigration,” by Eduardo Porter (Economic Scene column, Oct. 26), supports a proposal for a United States-Mexico temporary foreign worker program made by the Center for Global Development.

In discussing the Bracero guest worker program, the column notes the serious labor abuses that are inherent in guest worker programs but suggests that there can be solutions to prevent labor abuses in a future program. The experience with guest worker programs in the last century justifies skepticism about this claim.

An even greater concern, not discussed in the column, is the threat to our country’s democratic values posed by guest worker programs.

If this country truly needs to draw from other countries to find additional workers, such workers should be given the opportunity to become immigrants with a path to citizenship. They should not be deprived of the opportunity to earn the right to vote and participate in the civic life of this country.

Our democracy is undermined by relegating people to a temporary status and denying them the opportunity for immigration status and citizenship.

Bruce Goldstein, President Farmworker Justice