Best Free Reference Web Site 2007 US Temporary Worker Programs:
Lessons Learned By Doris Meissner Migration Policy Institute
Demographers believe that the undocumented population in the
United States numbers close to 10 million people, with Mexicans
accounting for 55-60 percent of this total. Thus, United States
immigration policy and reforms are of overarching importance and
interest to Mexico and to issues surrounding Mexican-United
States migration. On January 7, 2004, US President George W.
Bush proposed major, far-reaching changes in US immigration
policy that are based on the proposition that a core principle
of immigration policy—meeting the nation's labor market
needs—should be realized through new, large-scale temporary
worker measures. This article reviews the highlights of previous
and current temporary worker programs and US experiences with
them. By way of definition, temporary workers are people who are
imported to meet labor market needs in the United States or in
any country for limited period