Unemployment. Unemployment rates along the U.S. side of the border, except in two or three cities, are far higher than the average unemployment rates for the border States and are among the highest in the country. (See table 2.) Nevertheless, a comparison of the number of the unemployed with the number of commuters, as shown in table 1, suggests that at least in some of the border cities there would be a labor shortage without the commuters. Other estimates of the local manpower situation quickly dismiss this suggestion. These estimates, prepared by area CAMPS Committees, reveal that unemployment figures published by the local employment services understate actual conditions. Job opportunities are so limited in some cities that large numbers of potential workers do not actively seek work and are not counted as unemployed. In most of the cities, large numbers of employed workers work fulltime at jobs that pay less than 21 poverty level wages, or they work only part time because they are unable to get full-time employment. These workers are classified as underemployed. Combining the estimated unemployed and underemployed reveals a very different picture of the economic conditions of workers in the U.S. border cities from that shown by published unemployment data. In the cities for which such calculations could be made, estimates of unemployment and underemployment range from about 8 percent to almost 50 percent of the labor force. (See table 3.) The presence of large numbers of Mexican commuters in these labor markets is an obvious disadvantage to resident workers. PRESSURE OF MEXICAN UNEMPLOYMENT. Unemployment is also a serious problem along the Mexican side of the border. For years, comruuters have crossed into the United States to work, but since the end of the bracero program in 1964, they have been more visible and have increasingly entered agricultural occupations. Because of the bracero program, large numbers of Mexicans migrated to the border area in hopes of getting jobs in the United States. As a result, the populations of the Mexican border towns have increased dramatically, faster than it has been possible to create jobs, and the pressure to work on the U.S. side of the border has increased greatly. 1 Based on reports from State Employment Security Agencies. Based on the Comprehensive Manpower Plans, Fiscal Year 1970, prepared by the local Area Manpower Coordinating Committees, and published in the Arizona, California, and Texas Cooperative Manpower Plans for Fiscal Year 1970. Estimated on the basis of the proportion of Mexican Americans in the labor force and Mexican American unemployment rates (both given in the CAMPS plan) and assuming that Mexican Americans make up 50 percent of the area's unemployed. Not available. NOTE: Where the information on underemployment differentiated between disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged, the figures for the disadvantaged underemployed only were used. The figures on those not in the labor force but who local manpower planning officials thought could or should be in the labor force are not included, if it was possible to identify them, 22 At the same time that the bracero program ended and restrictions were placed by the U.S. Government on temporary agricultural workers from Mexico, the duty-free allowance that Americans were permitted to bring back into the United States after a trip abroad was reduced from $500 to $100. The liquor allowance was simultaneously cut from a gallon to a quart. These events had an immediate negative impact on several of the Mexican border cities, since bracero remittances and tourist purchases, including the sales of liquor, were the mainstays of their economies. Until Mexico launched its border industrialization program in late 1966, the Mexican Government had done little to help create jobs in its border area. By the end of January 1970, over 17,000 persons were employed in the industries created under this program, and an unknown number of workers were employed in ancillary jobs. This program stimulates additional northward migration of Mexicans eager to work in the new plants. In an effort to determine the magnitude of unemployment and underemployment, the Mexican National Minimum Wage Commission, under the auspices of the U.S.-Mexico Commission for Border Development and Friendship, conducted a survey of unemployment and underemployment in six border cities in 1969. This survey inquired about the characteristics of the people surveyed and the number who commute to work in the If the total number of persons looking for work for the first time (an estimated 10,000) is included, as they are in the other municipios, the number of unemployed increases to 39,355. The higher figure produces an unemployment rate of 21.7 percent An estimated 3,000 additional persons were reported as having applied for papers to work in the United States and were awaiting a reply. An estimated 19,000 additional persons were reported as having applied for papers to work in the United States, but the survey indicated that it takes from six months to a year before their papers are acted upon. SOURCE: Based on data published in "Revista Mexicana del Trabajo," Secretarla del Trabajo y Previsión Social, September 1969. MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, AUGUST 1970 United States. Without the U.S. jobs, the Mexican figures on unemployment and underemployment would be significantly higher. Officials interviewed during the survoys said that a cause contributing to the high rates of unemployment on the Mexican side of the border is the continuing migration of workers from the interior regions of Mexico who hope to find jobs on the U.S. side of the border. Tablo 4 summarizes the findings of the Mexican survey. In the six border cities, from 119,587 to 130,587 workers were unemployed and underemployed in 1969-roughly one-fifth of the combined labor force of 611,100 of these cities. Close to 10 percent of this group of workers were looking for work for the first time. Forty to 45 percent of the workers reported that they were holding or had held jobs in the United States. Of those who had worked in the United States, the largest number worked as farm laborers. The next largest groups worked as factory workers, domestics, office workers, and gardeners, in that order. Of those who worked in Mexico, the unemployed and underemployed were most often farm laborers or bricklayers. Significant numbers were mechanics, chauffeurs, carpenters, and painters. Over a third of the workers surveyed fell into the 25 years or younger age group (the proportion was as high as 75 percent in Matamoros), and close to half of them were single. Between 30 and 52 percent were natives of the area. In Ciudad Juarez only 15 percent were natives, and in Tijuana none of those surveyed were natives of the area. These figures confirm the strong attraction the border area has for Mexicans elsewhere in the country and indicate no lessening in the pressures of continuing population growth and migration. Trade union organization Organized labor in the United States is concerned that the presence of Mexican commuters, particularly in the grape fields of California, is a deterrent to the organization of farm workers and to the right of organized workers to strike. At its 1969 convention, the AFL-CIO passed two resolutions about Mexican border crossers. Resolution 208, which identifies the commuter with "strikebreaking and unfair competition with workers seeking their rights to organize on the farms and in the factories of the U.S.," calls COMMUTERS ACROSS MEXICAN BORDER for Congressional action to control the "widespread use of Mexican commuters which undermines American wage and labor standards, narrows employment opportunities for American workers, and provides a constant threat of strikebreaking." In its resolution supporting the farm workers' organizing efforts (Resolution 233), the AFL-CIO describes how the growers employ green card commuters as strikebreakers, reiterates its support to bring farm workers under the protection of the National Labor Relations Act, and urges "improvements in the Government's immigration policies." The use of green card commuters as strikebreakers was barred in June 1967, by a Federal regulation which precludes the use of the green card by an alien who has left this country and seeks to reenter to accept or continue employment at a place where the Secretary of Labor has determined that a labor dispute exists. In practice, this regulation has been difficult to enforce because green card commuters may decide to become residents of the United States during a labor dispute in order to keep their jobs. The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) claims that the Immigration and Naturalization Service has yet to use the regulation for its expressed purpose and that commuters have had little difficulty crossing the border to work in strikebreaking situations. A UFWOC organizer in Delano, Calif., testifying before the Subcommittee on Migratory Labor of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare in May 1969, reported that the fear of losing their jobs to commuter workers stops many resident agricultural workers from striking. Several legislative proposals responsive to trade union concern have been introduced in the Congress in recent years. These include an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for employers to hire aliens illegally in the United States or for employers to hire commuters to replace regular employees during a labor dispute. Some of the proposals would extend coverage of the National Labor Relations Act to the agriculture industry. Proposals for change in the commuter system There is a lack of consensus among border area residents about commuters. In its 1968 report, the Good Neighbor Commission in Texas, an organi 23 zation which has statutory responsibility for the State of Texas to survey the conditions and problems of migrant labor, stated that the positions of persons for and against the commuter systein are "adamant almost to the point of being unnegotiable and without compromise." "1 There is concern, however, about the effects on the U.S. border cities of changing the longstanding practice of commuting. Any curtailment of the commuter system would probably result in the large-scale movement of commuters and their families to the United States. The housing supply for low- and moderate-income families is already in short supply, and a sudden or even fairly gradual influx of the commuters would seriously exacerbate this situation. The large-scale movement of Mexican commuters and their families to the United States could also have serious short-term consequences for resident workers. The change in status from commuter to resident would do nothing to alleviate the labor surplus situation already existing in most border, cities. During periods of recession, there would be increased competition for jobs, since the commuters then would not have the option of returning to Mexico to live while retaining their immigrant status. In spite of these and other misgivings about the consequences of changing the commuting system, the concern of the labor movement for the or ganizing efforts of border area workers and the newly aroused concern of the Mexican-American community with poverty and their lack of seconomic opportunities are gathering support for a change in the commuter system. Eliminating the commuter system Some opponents of the commuter system would like to see all commuters prohibited. But eliminating the commuter system immediately seems to be a harsh alternative. Since the system of commuting has been sanctioned administratively by the United States for over 40 years, the commuters have obtained their immigrant status on the good faith assurance that the United States would not change an administrative practice of such long standing. An abrupt change could create serious personal hardships for the commuters and would probably cause diplomatic difficulties with both Canada and Mexico. Closing the border to commuters could also result in a great increase in 24 illegal entrants. Terminating the commuter system over a period of time might prevent some of the difficulties mentioned. At least it would make it possible for the U.S. communities to start constructing housing and schools to meet anticipated needs and for the commuters to plan how to move their families to this country. If the Government were to adopt this alternative, it could eliminate commuter status as of a certain date. Only those aliens already having "green cards" would be permitted to continue to cross the border to jobs in the United States. The question then becomes how long they would be permitted to continue commuting. If they were permitted to continue indefinitely, there would be minimal hardship on Mexican commuters' families. Families would not have to be uprooted, and the commuter practice would disappear through attrition, since no new commuter cards would be issued, not even to family members. Alternatively, the present commuters could be given a time period, say a period of 2 to 5 years, in which to make the transition from Mexican residents to bona fide U.S. residents or lose their immigrant status. Under this alternative, special arrangements would probably have to be made to give the immediate families of present commuters unique consideration in regard to the Western Hemisphere annual immigration ceiling of 120,000. The family members could be admitted on a one-time-only basis without regard to this ceiling during the transition period, or additional numbers could be added to the ceiling to take care of those already on the waiting list. A bill (S. 3545) introduced by Senator Edmund S. Muskie on March 4, 1970, would accommodate the family members by the addition of numbers to the Western Hemisphere immigration ceiling for a 2-year period following the effective date of the bill. A recent survey of commuters" reveals that between 80 and 90 percent of all commuters would want to move to the United States if commuting were no longer permitted. An influx of between 40,000 and 45,000 commuters and their families could create a massive shortage of housing, education, and other public services. If that number of commuters decided to take up permanent residence in the United States and were able to bring their families with them, a Mexican population of between 200,000 and 300,000 people could be expected to move to the MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW, AUGUST 1970 United States in a relatively brief span of time. Probably a small proportion of these families would try to move to areas away from the border, but a majority could be expected to reside in the U.S. border towns. Absorbing such large numbers of Mexicans would be an intolerable financial burden for the border communities. Income generated by the new residents through the payment of rents or mortgage loans, payments for utilities, and local taxes would be more than offset by the cost of providing low-income housing, schools, sanitation, and other services. At least in the early years, Federal and State aid would undoubtedly be needed. Administration of such a program might be similar to that provided in federally impacted areas, or to that provided to Cuban refugees since the revolution which brought Fidel Castro into power." Strenuous efforts at all levels of government and by private organizations would have to be made to attract new industries to the U.S. border towns so that the change in the commuter system would not result in added burdens of underemployment and unemployment. Large scale training and education programs coupled to credit availability, tax relief, and other programs would make these incentives even more attractive. Consideration might also be given to mobility and relocation assistance to help both local residents and immigrants who are not able to find employment or who want to locate elsewhere. If the numbers who locate away from the border area are sufficiently large and if they tend to concentrate in specific locations, these localities might also need financial assistance. Labor certification Much of the controversy centering around the commuter system stems from the effect that commuters have on wages and employment levels in the border communities. Because large numbers of commuters, indeed the bulk of them according to Immigration and Naturalization Service officials, are not required to get labor certification because of their relationship to a citizen or an immigrant, current labor certification procedures have little impact on the regulation of commuter traffic. If the decision is made to permit the continuation of commuting, or to continue it only COMMUTERS ACROSS MEXICAN BORDER for those Mexicans who are commuters as of a certain date, consideration should be given to changing the labor certification requirements. At the present time, immigrants to this country need to be certified only once, at the time of application, and then only if the immigrant applicant is not a parent, spouse, or child of a U.S. citizen or resident alien." To be effective in controlling the numbers of commuters from Mexico (and Canada), the certification by the Secretary of Labor would have to apply to all commuters, or be required at periodic intervals. Under the presert Immigration and Nationality Act, labor certifications are made either through the use of lists of occupations (schedules), which permit the processing of applications without individual review by the Department of Labor, or by individual case review. These methods are responsive to economic and manpower conditions and expedite the processing of cases. The wage level used is that prevailing for the occupation. The legislative proposals currently before Congress would not change the present method of certification; they would merely require it periodically. If, in addition, the exceptions to the labor certification requirement were tightened and an adverse effect wage were added to the certification language, the procedure of labor certification might be more effective in limiting the numbers of commuters from Mexico. For example, the exception from labor certification applying to Western Hemisphere immigrants could be amended to prevent the automatic exception of the parents of children under a certain age. (Many Mexican children are U.S. citizens by virtue of having been born in a U.S. border city hospital but have never lived in this country.) Also, an adverse effect wage requirement could be added which would require commuters to be paid at a somewhat higher rate than the prevailing wage. This might have the advantage of preventing wage competition by Mexicans and pushing local prevailing wages upward. Administration of an adverse effect wage that is higher than the prevailing wage could be very cumbersome unless a system of wage information, similar to the occupation schedules, could be developed. If a change in the system is made, it would be useful to provide safeguards in the new system to prevent commuters from losing their immigrant status immediately if their jobs would not qualify 25 for recertification and to prevent unscrupulous employers from abusing the commuters. The safeguard would allow for a specified interval during which the commuter could seek another job or move to the United States. Work permit An alternative to the commuter system would be to institute a new nonimmigrant border crossing card-the nonresident work permit. This alternative would permit workers living in Canada or Mexico to work in the United States at jobs where qualified U.S. residents were not available. The work permit could be issued for a specified period of time and would be renewable if the condition under which it was originally granted continued to exist. A periodic review to make such a determination would be required. Care should be taken that this system not be used to exploit the foreign worker and that more than a pro forma certification of lack of availability of resident workers is made before issuing the work permit. Other alternatíves COMMUTATION TAX. Commuters are frequently cited as a financial drain on the municipal services of U.S. border cities because they pay no property or school taxes, yet use many local services. It has been suggested that a weekly commutation tax, collected from the employers, would help pay for these services. A tax of $1 a week per commuter would provide $2.5 million annually (50 weeks times 50,000 commuters), which could be divided among the local, county, State, and Federal Governments. While such a tax might not be a serious financial liability for employers, it might be enough of an administrative problem that it would encourage employers to hire U.S. residents instead of Mexican commuters. Such a tax could also be paid by the commuters themselves as a payroll deduction. This would put the tax burden on the commuters who are already earning only a minimum salary in most cases; but, since living costs on the Mexican side of the border are lower than on the U.S. side, this tax might be tolerable. COMMUTER TICKET. Large numbers of people in the United States commute daily on the railroads from their residences in the suburbs to their jobs |