THE ENFORCEMENT by the U.S. authorities of an annual 66,000 cap on foreigners employed as temporary hotel and restaurant workers in America spells bad news for Jamaicans who have been an important part of the programme for many years.
Under the H-2b visa programme some 4,000 Jamaicans annually find employment in the hospitality industry in the U.S. during its high season, a time when there are no Americans available or interested in jobs paying US$12 (J$744.00) per hour, a significant contribution to the Jamaican economy in terms of foreign exchange, which is now threatened. The 66,000 visa limit goes back to 1991 but operated at a level of about 100,000 until the present crackdown by the United States Department of Homeland Security, presumably for post-September 11 security reasons.
The new edict is not only a blow for Jamaican workers but is likely to cause millions of dollars of damage to the US hospitality industry. According to the National Restaurant Association of America, the state of Maine, as one example, is likely to lose as much as US$90 million in tourism-related sales because of staff shortages. Over the years Jamaican workers have been important components of the hotel and restaurant labour force in 50 states so the economic fallout from the new ruling will have consequences for the Americans as well as the Jamaican economies.
President Bush has been trying, so far without success, to push through Congress a "Visitor Workers" programme which recognises the need for foreign workers, especially in agriculture, and which is designed to face up to the knotty illegal immigrant issue. The new ruling has triggered reaction from Senators from 25 states who are petitioning Congress for its relaxation, so there is hope for a change.
The Farm Workers programme, of which the H-2b legislation can be seen as a subset, has not been affected, as far as we are aware. The Farm Workers programme with America dates back to World War II during which crisis more than 50,000 Jamaicans were recruited and transported to the US to work on farms there. The Canadian Farm Work programme goes back to 1966 and does not specifically include a segment for hotel and restaurant workers. In the present circumstances this is an area of Jamaican/Canadian co-operation which should be explored.
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