{"id":648,"date":"2025-02-18T18:04:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T18:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=648"},"modified":"2025-02-18T18:04:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T18:04:26","slug":"shifting-the-balance-new-protections-for-migrant-workers","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/news\/shifting-the-balance-new-protections-for-migrant-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifting the Balance: New Protections for Migrant Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On October 19, 2023, the White House&nbsp;<strong>H-2B Worker Protection Taskforce<\/strong>&nbsp;published a long-awaited report adopting many of the critical policy recommendations that CDM made and citing CDM\u2019s research. This announcement follows on the heels of the&nbsp;<strong>US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL)\u2019s proposed new rules for the H-2A and H-2B<\/strong>&nbsp;visa programs. The report and the rules include ambitious and&nbsp;<strong>potentially game-changing protections long advocated for by migrant workers<\/strong>, CDM, and allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s what we are most excited about (It\u2019s a long list but read on! This is all because of your support!):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Taskforce urges the agencies to\u00a0<strong>expedite H-2B workers\u2019 requests for deferred action for workers involved in labor disputes<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 1.2) and ensure that workers\u2019 presence in the United States following a labor dispute will not negatively impact them (Action 1.1).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Taskforce also\u00a0<strong>adopted several of our recommendations for data accessibility<\/strong>\u2014including\u00a0<strong>sharing and integrating data on H-2B workers across agencies<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 2.1), sharing and\u00a0<strong>publishing data by \u201cgender, sector, and occupation.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(Actions 2.2 and 2.3) and\u00a0<strong>collecting new data on recruiters<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 3.1).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Taskforce also recommends crucial,\u00a0<strong>ongoing engagement through meetings with stakeholders<\/strong>\u00a0and establishing a standing Inter-Agency Working Group. (Actions 2.4 and 5.1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finally, the Taskforce adopted several meaningful recommendations that will directly protect workers\u2014such as<strong>\u00a0improving the agencies\u2019 oversight of H-2B worker recruitment<\/strong>\u00a0(Actions 3.2 and 3.3) and, crucially,\u00a0<strong>providing workers with access to rights information<\/strong>\u00a0and disseminating MigrantWorker.gov (Actions 4.1 and 4.5), information about their\u00a0<strong>immigration status and pending employer-filed petitions<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 4.2),\u00a0<strong>real-time information about job opportunities<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 4.3, contingent on resources), and\u00a0<strong>improve the notification of returned workers about back wages owed to them<\/strong>\u00a0(Action 4.4).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under the proposed regulations, l<strong>abor organizations will be able to visit workers in their employer-provided H-2A housing<\/strong>. We\u2019ve advocated relentlessly for housing access!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Also, the proposed regulations would establish:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Groundbreaking protections for H-2A workers who take\u00a0<strong>collective action and organize on the job<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Better ways to p<strong>revent and root out abusive employers<\/strong>\u00a0in the program. Withholding workers\u2019 passports to restrict their mobility would be cause for debarment from the H-2A program.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Greater\u00a0<strong>accountability and harsher consequences for employers charging illegal recruitment fees<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Potential pathways for H-2 workers to\u00a0<strong>pursue permanence and stability in the U.S<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mobility protections<\/strong>\u00a0that would enable workers to leave abusive employers and find new employment without losing their visa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CDM and Migration that Works, a coalition we chair, have long advocated for these protections. While the rules aren\u2019t perfect, we are thrilled with the proposed changes and feel optimistic that they will help shift the balance of power in what is still an employer-controlled and fundamentally flawed program.<\/strong>&nbsp;These strengthened protections will have a direct impact on the lives of thousands of migrant workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For now we\u2019re celebrating, and over the coming days, we\u2019ll be further analyzing the report and the more than 500 pages of rules and preparing to submit comments with workers in support of the key new provisions. We\u2019ll also call attention to what still needs to be improved. As we continue to deepen our analysis on the potential impact on the daily lives of migrant workers, we\u2019ll be sure to share any relevant findings with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A source of pride: CDM and five (!!) of our reports: Ripe for Reform, Engendering Discrimination, Recruitment Revealed, Breaking the Shell, and Fake Jobs for Sale are cited quite a few times as support for some of the most important new protections!<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":647,"template":"","class_list":["post-648","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdm.lebuinco.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}