Temporary Foreign Worker Article By Sandra Elgersma

A common biased opinion on immigration is that immigrants coming to the United States are taking American jobs. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “research indicates there is little connection between immigrant labor and unemployment rates of native-born workers.” The jobs that immigrants are taking are the low-budget jobs that Americans do not want. They not only get less pay, but also less benefits in comparison to American workers. In fact, according to Forbes, “illegal immigrants actually raise wages for documented/native workers.” America is considered to be more productive when we have more trading partners, Undocumented workers with limited English skills allows more American workers

Cundal and Seaman discuss the many ways in which the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is abused and the effects of this misuse on the workers. Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) are working jobs that should be classified as long term positions, not short term. This incorrect classification affects a worker’s salary, healthcare plan, pension, vacation pay, and sick days. Cundal and Seaman also address the ways in which TFW are more susceptible to employer abuse than other workers. Temporary Foreign Workers must apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) before switching employers, which can take up to five months; most workers cannot afford to live without a source of income for this length of time. This usually compels workers to keep serious issues private. Many workers are also uninformed about their basic rights, which often leaves them exposed to mistreatment or abuse by employers. Cundal, an immigration lawyer in Calgary and Seaman, a human rights and civil liberties researcher wrote an unbiased and fact based article using a wide variety of sources including articles, reports, and newsletters. Cundal and Seaman provided an extensive reference list in addition to footnotes to support their writing. The authors not only address the human rights issues faced by TFW’s, they also identify ways in which these issues can be resolved. Cundal and Seaman however, fail to provide information on how many TFW are affected by employer abuse and exploitation. This information is

As the population of Latin America and the Caribbean raised in 1995 with a 190 percent increase (Gonzalez 199), the job markets in Mexico are becoming scarce and competitive. The living conditions of residents in provincial towns like in Cheran, “whose timber-based economy is in tatters” (Martinez 9) are greatly affected. Mexican immigrant workers are forced to cross the border and find a greener pasture in the United States, because “in 1994, Mexico was crippled by a profound-and-prolonged-economic crisis” (Martinez 8). With the huge influx of Mexican immigrant workers coming to the States in search for better jobs, the US citizens are concerned about the economic impact: jobs, government and public services. However, the Americans’ concern that the immigrants are draining the nation’s resources, is a sweeping statement, it is based on a myth. There are many recent studies that the immigrant’s population living in the United States helps the economy. Similarly, the Mexican government and immigrant families are grateful for their immigrant workers for lifting the ailing economy and the status of immigrant families. Immigrant workers, legal or illegal, are positively reshaping the economy of sending and receiving countries through these major myths.

“On 'A Day Without Immigrants,' workers take to US streets” by CNN and “US Cities to Hold 'Day Without Immigrants' Protests” By Al Jazeera both covered stories on the widespread protest in America. On February 16, 2017 took place a nationwide protest that was supposed to advocate for immigrants and their importance in America. It is called “Day without Immigrants”, reminding America that this country is made up of immigrants and built by them. Immigrants, no matter where they come from, seek a better life and try to make that happen by sacrificing themselves from sleep and time with their family. Recently, Donald Trump has been making threatening rhetoric at immigrants, especially Mexicans. He is trying to keep immigrants out of the country because most of them are “criminals and rapists”, as he said in his first campaign speech. There are also 11 million undocumented immigrants who he wants to deport, which eventually caused this social unrest. This is actually a false belief because without immigrants America would be nothing. Therefore, it was on February 16 when schools were almost empty, restaurants and other businesses closed for the day making it certainly, a day without immigrants.

There are many questions arises when it comes to the way different cultures manage everyday life. In the book, The Immigrant Advantage by Claudia Kolker, gives us some explanations on their survival techniques. This book can help some Americans like me; live a healthy, happy and hopeful lifestyle. The Author suggests that some of us Americans can learn a few tips on immigration living. To support her information the author goes on a journey and talks face to face to some of the immigrants that moved to the U.S. with their families. Also she gives some details on her past life experiences that helped her cope with life expectations.

     The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly

In this documentary about Mexican’s workers experience in Ontario, Canada, Min Sook Lee addresses the issue of the Foreign Temporary Worker program. Specifically, El Contrado demonstrates how Mexicans come to Canada in order to work during several months under bad working conditions. Those workers have to leave their family constantly in order to help them financially. They work 8 months a year, which means that they are home in Mexico only for 4 months (El Contrado). Maximo left his family behind; unfortunately, he cannot even for four months in order to see his son as he is illegal in Canada. As those Mexican workers, Maximo experienced bad working conditions. Here he briefly talks about working conditions and explains how he wanted to get

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

Every morning, around 5 a.m., thousands of undocumented immigrants, men and women, line in selected street corners (parade in Spanish), waiting for employers to pick them up. Once a car pulls up, many of these men and women will run toward that car, yet only lucky few will make it inside the car, while the rest of the people will have to wait for another opportunity. Many spend weeks without jobs. Others will work only for two or three hours, barely make enough money to take the train back home.

I have read a lot of books on the subject of culture and customs of the country. When I read the book “The Immigrant Advantage” of Claudia Kolker, I understand more about the immigrants’ culture and their lifestyle. Through the book, I found interesting things about all the ideas of immigrants like me. I read each chapter of the book, and in the book I realized there are three very good ideas of marriage, several generations living in the same household, and good neighbors.

This article comprehensively analyzes how the Canadian government aimed to accomplish different policy objectives in order to make immigration processes simpler: “These programs generally increase the participation by the provincial governments and employers in the selection of immigrants; increase the use of temporary foreign workers, and give the federal government more authority to control the flow of immigrants of particular types.” . The Canadian government implements new programs in order to make the selection of immigrants much more efficient. The Canadian government states specifically how their future programs will increase the participation of various governments and employers in selecting immigrants. Secondly, the article describes how the difficulty of applying for immigration status has increased over the years due to Canada’s government regulations: There is a wide variety of criteria for the selection of economic immigrants. For example, the PN program has up to 60 streams in which an immigrant can apply, each with different criteria. There are many streams to which an immigrant can apply, meaning that these government agencies that aim to accept certain immigrants are all based on various criteria. They do not aim to accept all immigrants that apply for immigration, but

Canadian employers that wish to bring in new staff members through the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program will soon be forced to pay $275 per person. It is a processing fee that is meant to cover administration funds, but is really designed to deter employers from overusing the program for a source of low cost labour, especially when so many Canadians are out of work.

be issued a temporary worker card that will allow them to travel back and forth

In Claudia Kolker’s book The Immigrant Advantage, she talks about the cultural tradition of arranged marriages brought by South Asian immigrants to the United States. Kolker agrues that arranged marriages are much more effective in finding a spouse than traditional marriages. Kolker believes that this tradition of assistive marriage should be adopted by Americans. Research and studies have shown that “women in arranged marriages rated the highest marital status” (Kolker, 71) compared to couples who have arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is great for individuals who are ready to settle down and start their own life without wasting any time finding a partner. Arranged marriage saves a great amount of time on dating people who are not compatible with your personality or beliefs. As Kolker states, assistive marriage does not just save time in finding a lifelong partner but, it also leads to exceptional happiness between the couple than a traditional marriage reported by couples during studies. Traditions brought by immigrants such as, assistive marriage should be considered by American traditions.

Migration in every country leads to a change in the labour market. Countries like UK ‎grant immigration rights to the large numbers of immigrants every year and openly allow ‎immigrations from citizens of their former colonies. The attitudes of a country towards ‎immigration vary greatly on the particular employment patterns and needs at that given time, and ‎these attitudes may change over time. This paper will assess the changes in the labour market of ‎the UK due to the immigrations and its impact on the human resource management in