Do You Think An American Guest Worker System Is a Good Idea or Not?

Question

Please say as much as you want about this! I'm happy to read your reasoning and any data you want to share. :)

p.s. Would you rather I pick a Best Answer or vote on this?

I am hoping that questions like this one encourage people to discuss the issues for real and we can try to find what maybe works and what doesn't.

Answer 1

The potential woes of a guest-worker program far overshadow any economic benefit, given what we know about the long, troubled history of temporary-worker programs in developed countries. They have never stemmed illegal immigration, and the guest workers inevitably become permanent residents, competing with the native-born and forcing down wages. Our last guest-worker program with Mexico, begun during World War II to boost wartime manpower, grew larger in the postwar era, because employers who liked the cheap labor lobbied hard to keep it. By the mid-1950s, the number of guest workers reached seven times the annual limit during the war itself, while illegal immigration doubled, as the availability of cheap labor prompted employers to search for ever more of it rather than invest in mechanization or other productivity gains.

The economic and cultural consequences of guest-worker programs have been devastating in Europe, and we risk similar problems. When post–World War II Germany permitted its manufacturers to import workers from Turkey to man the assembly lines, industry’s investment in productivity declined relative to such countries as Japan, which lacked ready access to cheap labor. When Germany finally ended the guest-worker program once it became economically unviable, most of the guest workers stayed on, having attained permanent-resident status. Since then, the descendants of these workers have been chronically underemployed and now have a crime rate double that of German youth.

So, in short, I personally don't think a guest worker system will be viable in the long run. In fact, I think it could be potentially damaging. We're suppose to learn from history, not repeat it.

Answer 2

We have 9 guest worker programs; which ones were you referring to? It tends to be a bad idea since unscrupulous businessmen get addicted to cheap labor. This country was not founded to be a jobs factory for the third world.

Answer 3

very bad idea since we already have illegal and legal immigrants driving down wages and taking in more government resources then they pay in taxes. I for one do not want my taxes to pay for more immigrants who will abuse American and overstay their guest worker time thus once again increasing the illegal immigrant population, America is being overrun by immigrants not just from Mexico but highly skilled immigrants from India, Pakistan and China who are taking good paying jobs away from Americans.

Answer 4

Yes, the US should have a guest worker program for US citizens. Just think about it. LOL! Just to clarify my position, It would likely take a constitutional amendment to give citizens the right to work in this country again. Unless they've already flushed that piece of paper.

Answer 5

In theory, I think it's a bad idea. In practice, I think it's a necessary evil. If you go to the Plains states, the refrain I always hear is to the effect that they can't get American born workers to work in places like feed lots and slaughter facilities. These jobs don't necessarily pay Wal-Mart wages; I've seen slaughter facilities starting people at $11-$14 per hour, with reasonable expectations to make $35K-45K in 3-5 years, in towns where the average price of a home was $80K. If American born workers won't take these jobs, and the work has to be done, what alternative is there?

Answer 6

In Russia, at harvest time, everyone including the scientists and professors, takes an absence from their regular jobs and goes out into the fields to harvest the potatoes. They enjoy the change of pace from their usual jobs for a brief period.
I favor that kind of plan. Does that make me a communist?

Answer 7

No, it's a bad idea. They're escorted INTO this country by the government. Once they're in, they can go into hiding and never be seen or heard from again. And what's worse, it was at the fault of the government for letting them come in and giving them that opportunity.

Answer 8

if it addresses a real crisis/shortage of workers and not just Big Business lobbyist pushing the profit margin!