WASHINGTON – The U.S.
Senate’s immigration legislation holds hope for some retail workers who are in
the country without permission, the Chicago Tribune reports. Many of these
employees have jobs in the construction, hospitality and restaurant industries.
The proposal would make
available as many as 20,000 guest-worker visas (W visas) to employees and their
families in metro locations with unemployment rates higher than 8.5%. The cap
would rise to 200,000 after four years and visas could be renewed every three
years. However, first employers must show they could not hire American citizens
for the jobs before their undocumented workers could be eligible for the W
visas.
Many business groups and
labor unions are in favor of the W visa bill, but not everyone is on board.
“The goal of this new program is to replace illegal immigration, right?” said
Tamar Jacoby, president of Immigration Works USA. “The program only works if
it's really big enough to give people who are coming to do jobs that we need
done a way to enter legally.”
Some see the program as a
way to help undocumented workers receive better treatment from employers.
“Workers would know they can exercise their voice in the workplace,” said Jorge
Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.