Guest workers in the United States face many abuses at a time when President Bush and many in Congress are pushing to expand the guest worker program as part of an overhaul of the nation?s immigration laws. Each year 120,000 foreign workers receive visas to do farm work or other low-skilled labor, usually for three to nine months. Labor experts say employers abuse guest workers far more than other workers because employers know they can ship them home the moment they complain. They also know these workers cannot seek other jobs if they are unhappy. The abuses take many forms. For instance, guest workers often pay exorbitant fees and are frequently given fewer weeks of work and lower wages than promised.
See "Low Pay and Broken Promises Greet Guest Workers", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, February 27, 2007