“The US is currently at war and, simultaneously, at another historical crossroad of domestic policy that will not only undermine the economic life of working people, but will tax the social and political institutions of the nation at large. The stakes of the unfolding US strategy to exploit millions of Mexican and Central American laborers as transient servants through a national guest worker program are staggering.”
Read Transient Servitude and comment.
The campaign to adopt a US guest worker program that was temporarily defeated in 2007 has been relaunched.
Foundation work for the renewed campaign was started by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security on April 30.
Greenspan reminded the committee members of the contributions that undocumented workers have historically made to the US economy and argued that reform to bring immigration laws “up to date” is urgently needed.
“Up to date” in the present context means that the US should follow the lead of other developed counties around the world by adopting a guest worker program to legally exploit temporary labor from the poor countries in the global South.
What Greenspan is backing is a national guest worker program to legalize and control the importation (and deportation) of workers to meet the needs of US capitalism. He calls it a “flexible” workforce.
The current strategy is to a refinement of what was done to offset the recession of 2001 through a de facto open border policy.
Greenspan did not mention the impact of a national pool of temporary labor on the working people of the US: that is of no consequence for him or the people for whom he speaks.
The fact that a new proposal for a guest worker program has not yet been placed on the table should fool no one–it is being prepared under the table and will appear suddenly when capital is prepared to play its hand.
History has taught us that blitz legislation is just as binding as laws produced through open negotiation.
I will post regular updates on this critical issue as the campaign develops.
The U.S. Guest Worker Program for Exploiting Mexican and Central American Workers
Transient Servitude Update: The Continuing Efforts to Establish a US Guest Worker Program — Comment
Thursday, July 8th, 2010Since the end of the 20th century, the neoliberal sector of US capitalism has relentlessly pursued the establishment of a national guest worker program to import cheap labor from the Global South [especially Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean]. The failure of the US Congress to implement comprehensive immigration reform that includes provisions for a guest worker program has not derailed capital’s initiative. The purpose of Transient Servitude Update is to bring Transient Servitude: The US Guest Worker Program for Exploiting Mexican and Central American Workers (Monthly Review, January 2007) up to date by presenting timely analysis of the important developments of this critical issue that will shape the future of all labor in the 21st century.
Read the essay and comment.
Tags: anti-immigratant reaction, CIR ASAP, comprehensive immigration reform, Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity, guest worker programs, managed migration, Partnership for a New American Economy, SB 1070, Transient servitude, transient servitude update
Posted in Comment on Articles, free trade labor, managed labor mobility programs, onshoring foreign labor | 1 Comment »