Report calls for US visa changes for East Coast crab pickers
July 16 2010 by Liam Clifford
A report by the American University and migrant workers advocacy group, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Inc., suggests that changes need to be made to the US visa system to protect immigrant crab-pickers working on the East Coast.
The current system ties the mainly female workers to the job for which
they were granted their US work visas. They often gain these jobs by
paying foreign recruitment firms, and then find themselves living in
poor conditions on a low wage, with no choice but to remain in that job.
If the women choose to leave their job, they are given very little time
to return home and many of them cannot afford the return fare at short
notice. As a result, these female workers often keep quiet and put up
with extremely poor conditions and pay.
The report is based on the results of interviews with 40 migrant women
working in the US and Mexico over the past two years.
The report says that unscrupulous employers hold complete control on US work visa holders and on
whether the workers remain legally living in the US. As a result, those
who do not want to deal with complaints can simply send the workers
home.
The study adds to the pressure on the US government to undertake
comprehensive reform of the US immigration system. 
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