Stimulus Jobs meant for Americans went to immigrants

Rep. Peter DeFazio demanded Tuesday that the
federal Department of Labor add muscular – and clear – new provisions to
a guest-worker program that was used to hire foreign workers for forest
jobs in Oregon intended for unemployed U.S. citizens.

“Over the past year it has come to light that several contractors
exploited loopholes in the H-2B visa process to intentionally hire
foreign workers, rather than available Americans, for American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act-funded jobs on Forest Service lands in Oregon. This
is unacceptable,” DeFazio said in a letter sent Tuesday to Labor
Secretary Hilda Solis.

The letter came less than a week after the department’s inspector
general released a report about the contracts and the fact that 254
foreign workers were hired to perform work that most believed should
have been filled by unemployed Americans.

“Taxpayer money was spent to hire foreign workers while unemployed
Oregonians were denied these jobs. The Department of Labor owes it to
the American taxpayer and the over 13 million unemployed Americans to
make sure this can never occur again,” the letter says.

Subjects:  Immigration, unemployed, stimulus, guest worker program, H-2B visa, Oregon, Department of Labor, Peter DeFazio, loopholes.

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