The Role of Guest Workers in the American Economy

The United States has more than a half-century’s experience with dealing with guest-worker programs. The first dates back to the World War II-era Bracero Program that allowed Mexican laborers to come to the U.S. to work on the nation’s farms and railroads.   Simply put, a guest-worker program allows a foreign worker to enter the country for a specified period of time to fill a specific job. Industries with surges in labor needs, such as agriculture and tourism, often hire guest workers to fill seasonal positions. The Basics   A guest worker must return to his homeland after  the term of his temporary commitment has expired.  Technically, thousands of  U.S. non-immigrant visa holders  are guest workers. The government gave out  55,384 H-2A visas  to temporary agriculture workers in 2011, which helped U.S. farmers deal with seasonal demands that year. Another 129,000 H-1B visas went out to workers in â€Å"specialty occupations† such as engineering, math, architecture, medicine and health. The government also gives out a maximum 66,000 H2B visas to foreign workers in seasonal, non-agricultural jobs. The Bracero Program Controversy   Perhaps the most controversial U.S. guest-worker initiative was the Bracero Program that ran from 1942 through 1964. Drawing its name from the Spanish word for â€Å"strong arm,† the Bracero Program brought millions of Mexican workers into the country to compensate for labor shortages in the U.S. during World War II. The program was poorly run and poorly regulated. Workers were often exploited and forced to endure shameful conditions. Many simply abandoned the program, migrating to the cities to become part of the first wave of post-war illegal immigration. The abuses of Braceros provided inspiration for a number of folk artists and protest singers during the period, including Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs. Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez started his historic movement for reform  in response to the abuses suffered by the Braceros. Guest-Worker Plans in Comprehensive Reform Bills Critics of guest-worker programs argue that it’s virtually impossible to run them without widespread worker abuses. They contend that the programs are inherently given to exploitation and to  creating an under-class of servile workers, tantamount to legalized slavery. In general, guest-worker programs arent meant for  highly skilled workers or for  those with advanced college degrees. But despite past problems, the expanded use of guest workers was  a key aspect of the  comprehensive immigration reform legislation  that Congress considered for much of the last decade. The idea was to give U.S. businesses a steady, reliable stream of temporary labor in exchange for tighter border controls to keep illegal immigrants out. The Republican National  Committee’s 2012 platform called for creating guest-worker programs to satisfy the needs of U.S. businesses. President George W. Bush made the same proposal in 2004. Democrats have been reluctant to  endorse the programs because of the past abuses, but their resistance waned when faced with President Barack  Obama’s strong desire to get a comprehensive reform bill passed in his second term. President Donald Trump has said that he wants to limit foreign workers.   The National Guestworker Alliance   The National Guestworker Alliance (NGA) is a New Orleans-based membership group for guest  workers. Its goal is to organize workers across the country  and to prevent exploitation. According the  NGA,  the group seeks to â€Å"partner with local workers  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  employed and unemployed  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  to strengthen U.S. social movements for racial and economic justice.†

Essay on Explication of William Blakes Poem London

Explication of William Blakes Poem London William Blake’s poem â€Å"London† takes a complex look at life in London, England during the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds as he lived and experienced it. Blake’s use of ambiguous and double meaning words makes this poem both complex and interesting. Through the following explication I will unravel these complexities to show how this is an interesting poem. To better understand this poem some history about London during the time the poem was written is helpful. London was the â€Å". . . undisputed cultural, economic, religious, educational, and political center† of England in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. It was a city of â€Å"warehouses, docks, factories, prisons,†¦show more content†¦Other rhyme techniques noticed are the rhyming end lines that follow an ABAB pattern. This rhyming helps the poem flow and move along. The first use of repetition can be seen in the first two lines, with the word â€Å"chartered† (1-2). In this case the two words both have the same meaning but this is not always the case throughout the poem. Blake uses â€Å"chartered street† (1) and â€Å"chartered Thames† (2) to describe public places to which everyone has rights and privileges (chartered). Another meaning of â€Å"chartered† (1-2) that becomes more obvious as we read further into the poem is that of a chart or map. Webster’s dictionary says a chart is a sheet giving information, form this we can deduce that the Thames or streets have information to give (chart). The last two lines of this first stanza have more repetition with the words mark and marks. The speaker â€Å"mark(ing)† (3) every face is noticing the features or characterizing the people he meets. The speaker than â€Å"marks† (4) or sees a visible clues. What the speaker sees is â€Å"weakness† and â€Å"woe† (4). Woe can possibly be seen visually as in sadness, sorrow, or grief on the peoples faces, but weakness is not really a visual sign. From Websters we find weakness means lacking in strength or vigor (weakness). We learn later in the poem that this weekness is not referring to physical strength but to mental strength. After traveling about the public streets of London near the Thames river andShow MoreRelated The Songs of Experience - Explication of London Essay1043 Words   |  5 PagesExperience - Explication of London nbsp; William Blake published, in 1794, a collection of poems entitled The Songs of Experience. This collection works in collaboration with an earlier collection of the authors poems called The Songs of Innocence. The works of 1794 bring to the reader a more realistic or even pessimistic view of the authors native England, in comparison to the poems in The Songs of Innocence. One of the works in the more realistic collection is simply titled London. In this

Key Business Issues Relating to Best Value Management Free Essays

The â€Å"Key Business Issues Relating to Best Value Management and Strategic Development in the Housing/Regeneration Industry New Business and Asset Management† are inclusive of what is termed â€Å"Best Value†. In the Housing Industry the 4Cs of best value are applied to every review. The four â€Å"Cs† are: (1) Challenging why and how a service is being provided; (2) comparing performance with the performance of others in the industry; (3) embrace of fair competition as a means of securing efficient and effective services; (4) consulting with local taxpayers, customers and the wider business community. We will write a custom essay sample on Key Business Issues Relating to Best Value Management or any similar topic only for you Order Now Under the Best Value standard, local authorities have a duty to make arrangements to â€Å"secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.† (What is Best Value?, 2006) Best Value is defined as â€Å"providing local people what they want, when they want it, at a price they are willing and able to pay. It’s also about being imaginative in how local needs are met.† (What is Best Value?, 2006) Other principles of Best Value are stated to include: Being accountable to local people. They have to listen to and consult the people they are there to serve. They have to report regularly on what they have achieved and what they are planning. Looking to continuously improve. Sometimes this will come through many small changes, sometimes through larger changes when the existing service is fundamentally challenged. Setting targets and publicly reporting achievement against them. Cutting across departmental boundaries, rather than just looking at services individually. Councils can also work with other local agencies to tackle issues beyond the reach of a single service and need co-operative working with partner bodies. Developing partnerships with the private sector, with communities and agencies, and between authorities. These partnerships will be able to review services jointly, develop local plans, acting together to achieve local outcomes, and provide services in some cases. Being open about service delivery. Councils shouldn’t assume that they should deliver activities if other more efficient and effective means are available. This is not to say however that authorities must contract their services out – what matters is what works best for delivering services to the community, so an open mind is needed. (What is Best Value?, 2006) PART A – Critical Review of the Existing Key Business Issues Related to Best Value Management and Strategic Development in the Housing Management, Regeneration, New business and Asset Management Industry. In the assessment of DHA the comments provided by the inspecting agency were in the areas of the following which require improvement: (1)Effective Financial and Corporate Governance; (2)Asset management, including repairs and response management; (3)Reinvestment in Current Stock to meet the Decent Home Standards; (4)Poor procurement and project management systems; (7)High levels of social behavior and poor neighborhood communities. According to the standards of ‘Best Practice’ in this industry accountability to the local people is considered critical. It is necessary that Dante Housing Association ‘listen’ to the residents; it is critical that Dante Housing Association ‘consult’ with the residents; and it is critical that Dante Housing Association ‘report’ on a ‘regular basis’ to the residents and inform them what plans are in process. All of these actions herein stated fall directly in line with numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, and are associated with number 7 of the problem areas that must be focused on in the six months allotted for Dante Housing Association, hereafter referred to as DHA to make the necessary changes and improvements. In fact, the continuous view toward improvement is necessary to be instituted into the principles and practices of DHA so it is important that this perspective and standard be initiated into all aspects of improvement toward which this report is focused. The regular reporting and accounting publicly is critical as well in the process of instituting ‘Best Value’ standards for DHA because to meet the goals that are set for DHA is not enough, because without reporting of these goals and their achievement publicly then the public will not be aware of what DHA is doing and may assume that DHA is doing nothing. DHA must institute a principle of collaboration across boundaries both within and outside of DHA in order to attain the best prices, gain the cooperation and assistance of other agencies position to offer such assistance because so many times the changes that are needed are bigger than DHA has the capacity to provide single-handedly. This leads to the next issue which is the need for DHA to establish partnerships and cooperative efforts with other companies in both the public and private sector and for the reasons as just stated. Finally, DHA must agree to consider options available in services delivery and if outsourcing some of these delivery of services might mean savings, efficiency and effectiveness then DHA must prepare itself to make the necessary changes to deliver services in the most effective and efficient manner possible. How to cite Key Business Issues Relating to Best Value Management, Essay examples

Conflict Reporting of Life Threatening Risk †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Conflict Reporting of Life Threatening Risk. Answer: Introduction The two books that are to be discussed are the Age of Jihad and the Lawless roads, both the books are based on the reports of the conflicted areas, one in Mexico and the other in Middle east. The writers of the books have given the accounts of the incidents through their own personal experiences in those places. They travelled from their place to other place as journalists. It is very difficult to report in conflicted areas, but Patrick Cockburn and Graham Greene made it possible by their efforts. They took the risk to be present in the conflicted areas, it was indeed a life threatening risk for both of them and they have successfully gained fame from their works. Age of Jihad written by Patrick Cockburn, about ISIS in Middle East. Graham Greenes work Lawless roads focuses on church demolition and the murder of the priests in Mexico (Epstein 2013). In the late 1930s, Graham Greene was sent to Mexico for reporting the scenario of the place and the reaction of people living there towards the cruel anticlerical purges of President Calles.In the book Lawless RoadsGraham Greene presents the findings of his investigation and the thrilling experience of that trip. His quest took him through the tropical states of Chiapas and Tabasco, where all the churches had been either demolished or shut down and the priests were driven out or murdered. This incident served as the setting and background for one of his greatest works, The Power of Glory. The Lawless Roads is an interesting work because of therealstoryit tells about what happened when Graham GreenetravelledtoMexicointhe year 1938, just before theSecond World War has started. The Catholic Church sent him there on commissionbecause theywanted to find out more about the state ofreligious persecutionin thecountry. The book focuses on two specificissueswhich makes it difficult to read as well as more intriguing. The first is itsreferencestoreligion, which does not make much sense unless one is a Catholic. The same can be said forMexicanwordsandplacenamesunless attention is paid, they all more or less sound the same. The religious persecution was not evenly regulated; in Tabasco every church or priest of the Church remained. In other places it had been a case of opposition, of priests intentionally bearing and spending life, hiding in an unfriendly and dangerous area. The corruption of the priests was inevitable. The priests in those places were exploiting the poor people by taking undue advantage of their fears. They charged a high amount for the services. It was difficult not just for the Mexicans but also for the foreigners. People who revolted against the corruption snatched all the assets of the priests and they were left stranded like creatures are left after a receding tide. They had to live in an unfriendly place surrounded by people who hated them, and there was no way to escape the crisis. Graham Greene also had to face some of the hostile behavior during his journey to Mexico (Low 2017). The book is by an award-winning author ofbook The Rise of Islamic State, the essential story of Middle East disintegration. The Age of Jihadshows the conflict of modern Middle East and the destructive role played by the West has played in the area from 2001 till today. Starting from the invasion of US on Afghanistan, Cockburn investigates the big geopolitical fight between the Sunni-Shia of Middle East. The clash has taken the shape of the war on terror, western military had to intervene, an insurgency was started, the civil wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria, the Arab Spring, the decline of regional dictatorship, and the rise of Islamic State (Garza 2014). Cockburn shows the arresting in full detail, Islamic State did not come into existence in Syria in from the Arab Spring, rather it has been emerging slowly. The organization has started many years and have occupied Iraq, before it grew to a point where it threatened the stability and harmony of the whole region. Cockburn was the first Western journalist who warned of the world about the dangers posed by Islamic State and future it might get worse. The originality of the work and broad vision makeThe Age of Jihadthe most detailed account of the regional conflict and crisis situation in the Middle East till date (Watts 2014). It is not possible for a Westerner to make people understand the the tragic war in the Middle East. Patrick Cockburn who has written this book made this possible. He was a journalist in Chechnya and Afghanistan for a quarter of a century now. He is a better guide than who can show the happenings of Middle east to the people of other part of the world. According to Patrick Cockburn There are eight wars now being fought in Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa. He was present there and has reported, analyzed the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. He was one of the first reporters who have given an account on the rise of ISIS and has described the nature of its horrific occurring. This book needs to be read by everyone to understand the disaster. It should be a must reading for politicians, diplomats, defense chiefs and the academic think-tanks whose members make confident predictions, usually confounded by what follows (Epstein 2013). Both the books are completely different what makes the both different is the place and different scenarios. The common thing between the both books is that they are based on war conditions. The lawless roads is based on the Church demolition in Mexico and Graham Grene was send to the place to investigate further and report about the war conditions in Mexico, he was sent by the Church. The next book written by Patrick Cockburn who is one of the first journalist to report about the rising terror of ISIS. The age of Jihad is a book that focuses on the conflict between the Shia and Sunni community of Islam (Watts 2014). It is based on completely on Islamic terror and a much bigger issue that still prevails in the present time as well. While lawless roads accounts on the happenings of Mexico and that does not occurred later. The lawless roads can be said that it is basically based on Vandalism. The lawless roads show the corruption of priests who charged high amount for their services. Th is made the people very angry, the agitated people lynched the priests some managed to stay alive while others were dead. So, this is a situation of Anarchy for a good cause but the Age of Jihad is based on terrorism, although it has not been reported as terrorism because it was not a severe issue then (Byman 2016). The same cannot be said for the age of Jihad because it is based on terrorism, it initially was an uprising that occurred because of the clash between the two sects of Muslim community, that small conflict today has taken the shape of threatening war condition. This is also one of the points where both the works differ, the writer has taken the pain to describe the incidents by being present in conflict areas. Their efforts and pain taken for this writing is same and hence cannot be compared. They have successfully gained the interest of readers because of they given the exact account of the incidents (Watts 2014). Conclusion War is a greatest threat to the world, no matter where it takes places, it affects other countries as well. It affects the lives of the people. Uprising of threat like ISIS is one of the greatest threats to the society today. The people of Middle East are living a life of terror. It would be difficult to know these incidents if the two reporters would not have taken the pain to travel across the two places for reporting. The other book the lawless roads is based on the corruption of the priests of the Church and thus got punished for their wrongdoings. It cannot be denied that the accounts of war in the books and the details are very intriguing. It would give goose bumps to the readers who are sitting in their armchair miles away. It would have not been possible for the people to get such detailed information of the conflicts of the areas if the writers would have not taken the risk to travel and be present in conflicted areas. References Byman, D., 2016. Understanding the Islamic StateA review essay.International Security. Epstein, R.A., 2013. Tushnet's Lawless World: A Response to Mark Tushnet, Book Review, Epstein's Best of All Possible Worlds: The Rule of Law, 80 U Chi L Rev 487 (2013).U. Chi. L. Rev. Dialogue,80, p.1. Garza, C.R., 2014. A Network of Holes.World Literature Today,88(1), p.33. Low, M.C., 2017. The Age of Jihad: Islamic State and the Great War for the Middle East by Patrick Cockburn.The Middle East Journal,71(2), pp.329-331. Watts, C., 2014.A preface to Greene. Routledge.