[riverdawg]

Your post makes a lot of sense, and I agree with most of it. On the H-2B program, however, I disagree that it receives little government oversight. My impression is that most of the seasonal workers brought in under this program for Trump-style resort work are brokered by small headhunting firms who must apply for and then receive a strict quota of such workers. The wife of a former co-worker (both now retired) ran such a headhunter operation for 15 years. Her company specialized in recruiting young foreign workers, mostly from northern and eastern Europe for nanny and hotel/resort jobs. The nanny jobs were typically for one year (no more than two) and the resort jobs were usually for 4-6 months. Conversations with her over the years gave me the impression that there was very strict government oversight of the whole entry-visa process and, especially, the departure of the temporary workers when their visas expired. I recall that her company brought in about 100 workers per year, and tried to screen them very carefully. In all those years, there were a couple of incidents where a nanny was sent home early because of poor job performance, and another couple of occasions where a resort worker tried to stay in the US beyond the visa expiration date. The reputation of her company with regard to worker performance was very important, as much of her business was obtained through word-of-mouth referrals. Also, her ability to receive more slots from the government depended, in part, on how many of her recruits tried to “disappear” at departure time.

[MD Expat in PA]

On the H-2B program, however, I disagree that it receives little government oversight

FWIW, that wasn’t what I said but quoted from the article posted.

My impression is that most of the seasonal workers brought in under this program for Trump-style resort work are brokered by small headhunting firms who must apply for and then receive a strict quota of such workers…..Conversations with her over the years gave me the impression that there was very strict government oversight of the whole entry-visa process and, especially, the departure of the temporary workers when their visas expired.

That’s interesting and hopefully the case in most cases, but it would seem that not all “brokers” are as reputable as your former co-worker’s wife and her partner.

http://cis.org/north/mixed-messages-abusing-h-2a-and-h-2b-migrant-worker-programs