The Summer of the Death of Hilario Guzman

(via: L.A. Times)

And so I tried to fit into my puzzle the solution of a guest worker program. Not the bracero program that Latino activists railed against, as if we couldn't improve on a model 60 years old, but a version more efficient and less brutal.

It would be premised on the notion that families remain behind as anchors to build rural Mexico. This would gut the underground of coyotes and illicit document purveyors. It would lead to a more predictable flow of workers so that employers knew what skills they were hiring and workers knew up front what they were earning. No more starting their journey here as indentured servants $7,000 in the hole. No more desperation of the kind that made $2.50 an hour acceptable.  (Read Article)

technorati tags:immigration, labor, grapes

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