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MTW Comment on DOL’s Proposed Rule “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employement in the US”

RE: Doc. No. ETA-2023-0003 Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States

November 14, 2023

Dear Acting Secretary Su:

Migration that Works writes in support of many of the changes in the Department of Labor’s proposed rule “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States.” The proposed changes would strengthen worker protections in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program, reflecting policy recommendations that workers and advocates have made for decades. Migration that Works joins in the comment submitted by Farmworker Justice and submits this separate comment to highlight several key changes that align with our coalition’s Alternative Model for Labor Migration. We urge the Department to strengthen some of the proposed changes to meet its policy goals and statutory mandate.

MTW comment on DHS and DOJ’s proposed “Circumvention of Legal Pathways” rule

RE: Proposed Rule on Circumvention of Lawful Pathways, USCIS-2022-0016-0001¹

Dear Director Jaddou and Director Neal:

Migration that Works submits the following comment to oppose the Department of Homeland Security’s and the Department of Justice’s proposed “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule. Migration that Works is a coalition of labor, migration, civil rights, and anti-trafficking organizations and academics advancing a labor migration model that respects the human rights of workers, families, and communities and reflects their voices and experiences. Founded in 2011 as the International Labor Recruitment Working Group (ILRWG), Migration that Works is the first coordinated effort to strategically address worker rights abuses across industries and visa categories.

MTW’s letter of support for California’s AB 364

Dear Governor Newsom,

On behalf of Migration that Works, we write to urge you to sign AB 364 (Rodriguez). Since our founding in 2011, Migration that Works (formerly known as the “International Labor Recruitment Working Group” or “ILRWG” for short) has documented widespread abuse and systemic flaws in recruitment for U.S. work visa programs, including fraud, discrimination, and economic coercion.¹AB 364 would prevent many of these abuses—protecting workers and preventing human trafficking—by regulating international labor recruiters who recruit for jobs in California. And it would protect law-abiding employers that use registered recruiters. With your leadership, California will protect more than 300,000 internationally recruited migrant workers and establish a model for ethical labor recruitment that other states can follow.

MTW’s Recommendations to DHS Towards Ensuring Mobility for H2 Workers

May 17, 2022

Every worker should be able to leave a job for any reason without fearing that their employer will retaliate against them or that they will be barred from employment elsewhere. This fundamental principle of workers’ mobility is enshrined in US anti-retaliation laws and international labor mobility frameworks. Nevertheless, the H-2A and H-2B programs currently prevent most workers from leaving one job and finding another because they tie these workers’ visas to a single employer.

Migration that Works statement on the Biden Administration’s alarming Expansion of the H-2B Program

February 25, 2022

The H-2B non-agricultural temporary work visa program leaves workers exposed to widespread abuse and exploitation. Despite the H-2B program’s well-documented structural flaws, the Biden administration and federal legislators have moved to dramatically expand this program — without first instituting protections endorsed by workers and advocates. Migration that Works opposes this approach — which so far has ignored the workers’ needs — and urges U.S. federal agencies and policymakers to protect migrant workers in the H-2 labor migration programs.

Migration that Works’ Response to the Updated National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking

January 24, 2022

The Biden-Harris Administration has a crucial opportunity to marshal the federal government’s resources and deploy its agencies to more effectively combat human trafficking—a devastating problem that the pandemic has exacerbated. As we observe Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the time is now for a robust, worker-centered strategy to end human trafficking, and particularly forced labor and debt bondage. Last month, the Administration published an updated National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (“Plan”). While Migration that Works commends the Administration for using gender and racial equity lenses and addressing migrant workers in its Plan—vital perspectives missing from the last administration’s version of the Plan—its proposed strategies to protect migrant workers fall woefully short.

Statement of solidarity with farmworkers who have suffered discrimination, racism, and displacement

As a Coalition committed to advancing equitable labor migration policies, we are in solidarity with farmworkers throughout the U.S., particularly those who have suffered historic discrimination, racism and displacement from their lands and communities.

Human rights of migrants and their families must be a priority in a North American vision of migration

November 19, 2021

Yesterday, U.S. President Biden convened with Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau and President López Obrador of Mexico, to discuss regional priorities, including migration. As a coalition of labor, migration, civil rights, anti-trafficking organizations and academics, we urge all three leaders to move away from “quick-fix” solutions and keep working towards a regional vision of migration that prioritizes the human rights of migrants and their families.

Joint comment on USCIS’s newly proposed I-129H2A and I-129H2B forms for Nonimmigrant workers.

Continue reading “Joint comment on USCIS’s newly proposed I-129H2A and I-129H2B forms for Nonimmigrant workers.”

Statement Regarding the Inhumane Treatment of Haitian Migrants at the US Border

Migration that Works decries the vile, inhumane treatment of Haitian migrant families and asylum-seekers at the US Border. The horrific violence perpetrated by the US Border Patrol in Del Río, Texas towards primarily Black Haitian migrants searching for refuge and security is unconscionable and unforgivable. This treatment is reminiscent of the footprint of slavery in the US, and the Biden Administration’s treatment of Haitian migrants is a reminder of the systemic racism and anti-Blackness that viciously pervade US institutions.