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Overview
Guestworkers are temporary non-immigrants who are admitted to the U.S. for an extended period of time to work for a specific employer. Due to an arduous transfer process, these workers are often “bound” to their employer for the entire length of their visa. The two most frequently requested visas are the H-2A, which brings in agricultural workers, and the H-1B, which brings skilled workers to U.S. technology sectors.In 1986, Congress established the H-2A visa program under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, to bring agricultural workers into the U.S. Congress did not establish a cap on the number of visas that could be issued, but it did regulate the length of the visa. The H-2A visa is only valid for one year with the possibility of extending for no more than three years. Furthermore, under the H-2A program requirements, employers must prove that there are no U.S. workers who can fill labor shortages before employers find foreign workers. The agricultural industry continually claims that without foreign workers much of American agriculture would grind to a halt. In reality, large-scale use of foreign labor has reduced wages and slowed the adoption of harvest mechanization.
In 1990, a panic over a forecasted labor shortage led Congress to establish the H-1B visa program. The program allocated 65,000 visas for those in ‘specialty occupations’, valid for up to six years. However, the actual number of H-1B visas granted each year is much higher than the 65,000 cap. The difference can be accounted for in two main ways. First, “employers that are institutions of higher education, non-profits or government research organizations are exempt from the cap,” and make up 44 percent of the total visas issued. Second, 20,000 visas are granted solely to those in graduate programs each year. Because 56 percent of H-1B computer workers register in the lowest skill level and average $12,000 less in wages than a comparable U.S. worker, evidence is emerging that “the H-1B program operates mainly to supply U.S. employers with cheap workers, rather that with essential skilled workers.” Despite the six-year time frame for the H-1B visas, the program “is widely used as a stepping stone to permanent residency.”
Based on FY 2006 data from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. admitted 46,432 workers under the H-2A visa program and 431,853 H-1B visa workers. In total, 1,709,953 non-immigrant workers and their families were given visas. Of this total, 91, 730 are visas given to families of workers.