Summary
Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged undocumented Colombian workers in the U.S. to leave their jobs and return home, promising government loans for business startups.
His call follows a diplomatic clash with Donald Trump over U.S. deportation policies, including Petro’s temporary refusal to accept deportation flights.
The dispute nearly led to a trade conflict before both sides reached a truce.
Colombia has accepted 475 deportation flights since 2020, ranking fifth among Latin American nations receiving U.S. deportees.
Can I go with them, please?
How did America get itself into such a mess where it depends so much on the labour of illegal entrants to the country? If they are needed then create a new work visa type for particular industries and then everyone can live in the light of day. If they’re not needed, then deporting them is the right thing to do. For what seems like an absurd amount of time America has been content to overlook illegal entry because it knows it economically benefits from it. But this is a daft way to approach security and citizen rights in general. It will antagonise increasing amounts of people and result in the kind of political disaster we’re now witnessing…
Because slavery never went away, just morphed. Prison labor is one of its shape, second class citizenship from undocumented immigrants is another. Even H1B1 visas are premium slavery.
Because of neoliberalism. Its quite simple.
I don’t know much about the US, but living in Russia I can say, that our thriving construction business that pockets everyone depends on foreign labor with no rights living in train containers behind concrete walls surrounding the soon-to-rise building. There’s a whole infrastructure of immigrants earning some there and then getting back to live with their family in a jobless, empoverished land. Big business wants depndent, isolated, cheap workforce, and it’s all not overlooked, but orchestrated by our services for a % in their profits.
You might have that a little inside out.
America doesn’t depend on undocumented labor. Employers who use undocumented labor do it because those people can be paid less, they can be exploited more easily, and certain taxes can be avoided.
The only reason “they do jobs that Americans don’t want to do” is because American citizens have access to labor rights.
If they are needed then create a new work visa type for particular industries and then everyone can live in the light of day.
Yes, but that would mean undocumented labor would cost more to the employers, and we can’t have that, can we?
Don’t worry, those labor rights will stop existing shortly so that employers can continue to pay less without illegal labor. All according to plan!
I meant ‘America’ does it in the sense of both employers taking advantage of it and politicians finding it expedient to generally ignore it. It was an arrangement of convenience.
I’m trying to formulae what moderate politicians were supposed to do to head off the disastrous lurch to the right now underway.
Clearly ignoring a porous border and illegal work is not an option. But this was obvious decades ago. It is moderate politicians unwillingness to grasp the nettle and either i) introduce an unpopular low skill work visa and crack down on illegal employment for the sake of the worker or ii) head off growing alarm at what feels to be a lack of security at the border by diverting more funds to patrolling it while enabling better processes for people to enter through legal means
They wouldn’t do either of these options. So now a portion of the population who might have been more moderate in a different universe have now been cajoled by demogogues into believing Trump type rhetoric and bluster is the only thing remotely addressing their concerns.
Its always been a way for individuals and companies to pay to little for labor and works hand in hand with globalization. You are exactly right that these things should be done properly. I have always felt that all H1B should have to pay at least the average pay of the role performed by us citizens as part of its provisions. I don’t like trumps global up and down dick waving tarrifs but I always thought we should have tarrifs around countries having less freedom and rights than us. So basically free trade with europe, canada, and australia and a variety of other democracies across the globe but tarrifs on china, russia, saudi arabia, and such.
I have always felt that all H1B should have to pay at least the average pay of the role performed by us citizens as part of its provisions.
They do. But when your ability to live and work in this country depends on the company continuing to sponsor your visa, you’re a lot less likely to stand up for yourself on things like overtime.
Edit: As an example, a friend was being pressured to take a different position, which including relocating, with his visa being used as the stick. He was fortunately able to nope on out and get his visa picked up by another employer.
im not so sure:
“For an occupation not covered by a union contract, the weighted average of wages paid to similarly employed workers (i.e., workers having substantially comparable jobs in the occupational classification) in the geographic area of employment.”
I think the problem is they likely game what is similarly employed and then having a lot of H1B allows the to manipulate it a fair amount. Honestly maybe it should limit work hours to 40 a week but Im not sure how well that could be enforced. Maybe it should just allow them to work and the slot stays with the employee who can just move around as they feel like after one year or something.
Of course companies are going to try and game any system that regulated them. I believe the compensation is information that is included in the application for the visa. So if it’s deemed to be unfairly low for the position it can be denied. The salaries paid are public info, too. Plenty of sites to look them up.
Unfortunately that site has not option for lowest paid. Like certainly right now no h1b should be done for under six figures if the skills are so hard to find they need to use an h1b.
Um, hi.
Former H1b here.
The pay’s the same. We just are stuck with the one company, as H1Bs are tied to the role, so getting fired means a moving truck; right now.
Also H1Bs need a shitload of legal work to ensure it’s all done and back on time so we don’t have a gap. They don’t tell you this, and it’s thousands of bucks. If the company pays, then they’re already paying more for immigrant labour than domestic.
In my case, after 5.5 years (j1+first H1) I wasn’t comfy with paying like $5k for my other H1 to be processed, just so I could be financially decimated by a car crash. I begged to work remotely - more “left it up to them” - and came home. Money exchange was good and I got another 3 years out of them.
see that is bs. all fees should be on the company end.
