H2B VISAS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 001321

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP, CA/VO/F/P

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT BR
SUBJECT: H2B VISAS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

REFS: A) Brasilia 936 B) Brasilia 2240

SUMMARY
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1. (U) As noted in Ref A, Brazil has seen a dramatic rise in
temporary work visas (H2B) in the last year. The Sao Paulo
applicants generally fall into three categories: 1) young,
educated Brazilians heading to resorts, ski areas and Indian
casinos for several months to make some money (the good),2)
relatives and friends of Brazilians in the U.S. looking to
work for landscapers, laundries, fish markets and other
small businesses, predominantly in the Northeastern United
States (the bad),and 3) unqualified intending immigrants
who pay $3,000 USD and up to job brokers for a chance to
enter the U.S. (the ugly). The first group is mostly made up
of young people from middle class families looking to make
money and improve their English. The second group poses
greater risks because many previously issued applicants for
the same employers have not returned, making it difficult
for prospective employees to overcome Section 214b of the
INA. The third group is mostly made up of poor, desperate
people who borrowed money to pay outrageously high brokerage
fees.
2.(SBU) From January to November 28, 2005, Sao Paulo
interviewed 1,515 H2B cases, almost 200% more than for the
same period in 2004. Refusal rates increased from 30% in
2004 to 49% in 2005. While Brazil, given its distance, has
not traditionally sent large numbers of temporary workers to
the United States, the pattern appears to be changing.
Brazilians can earn significantly more money in the U.S. (to
buy a house or car or open a business back home) and there
is a growing immigrant-community support network,
particularly in New England.

THE GOOD
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3. (U) Sao Paulo sees a large number of mostly young
Brazilians going to work on H2B petitions for hotels,
resorts, and lately, Indian casinos. Petitioners range from
Marriott Corporation to the Vail Corporation and the Mohegan
Sun Casino. The applicants usually have some college
education and are planning to go to the U.S. for several
months to make money. Many are returning employees. Most
applicants are named on the petitions and there is no
wholesale substitution of beneficiaries. Significant
numbers of the applicants have tourist visas and the
companies appear to have rigorous screening processes. Most
of these visa applications are issued.

THE BAD
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4. (U) As the number of Brazilians living in New England
grows, we continue to see small U.S. employers filing H2B
petitions for landscapers, cleaners, construction workers,
etc. While we have considerable sympathy for these cases
because the employers are trying to hire these people
legitimately, the problem is that there is little or no
vetting of the applicants in Brazil. As a consequence the
quality of the applicants is mixed, with the desperate-for-
work cases tending to prejudice the ones who might be
legitimately planning a temporary trip. In addition, the
return rates are not high for most of the petitions, which
prejudices future applications.

THE UGLY
--------------

5. (U) Sao Paulo receives hundreds of applications a year
from companies such as WorkUSA, JobsUSA, and Proline
Management that use approved unnamed-worker petitions, or
named petitions with 100% substitutions, to recruit poor,
desperate job seekers who are willing to pay upwards of
$3,000 for a chance to apply for a temporary work visa (see
ref A for further details). The jobs are typically hotel
cleaning jobs and are located throughout the U.S. Some
receive a partial refund if the visa is denied but all are
charged outrageous sums of money to become H2B
beneficiaries. Invariably, applicants have borrowed money
or sold a car to fund the visa application and can never
hope to make enough money in the four or five months the
petition is valid to make a roundtrip worthwhile. We deny
most of these applications. Some of the ones that are
issued arrive in the U.S. to find they have no job. In the
end, the recruiters have made a fortune preying on the
unsuspecting public, consulate visa appointments are swelled
with these terrible cases, and few are issued visas. Only
the recruiters benefit.


6. (U) Among the first individuals to recognize the
financial opportunities presented by H2B visas were human
traffickers. Smugglers who had a lucrative business moving
desperate Brazilians via Mexico or Argentina or the
Caribbean saw a cheaper and less risky way to profit from
the same clientele (the Mexico route cost 10,000 USD). One
investor in an H2B recruitment agency told Post's fraud unit
that her partner cheated her out of her entire investment
and absconded to Europe on a false passport. He took all
the applicant fees and five potential illegal immigrants to
Europe. The fraud unit contacted the Department of Homeland
Security, which stopped this smuggler from entering the
United States.

COMMENT
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7. (SBU) One issue that continually troubles us is the lack
of a common database to ensure that petitioner's agents are
not substituting or sending more workers than they should
be. To that end, post supports the H2B beneficiary database
in the CCD. We must stop the facilitation of the "ugly"
cases. We suggest requiring that only employers be allowed
to petition workers. The petitioners for the worst cases
are typically recruiters or agencies that place the workers.
Cases are much less problematic when a company such as
Marriott is itself the petitioner (Marriott in particular
has an exemplary recruitment program in Brazil). There must
also be sanctions to inhibit these local recruitment
agencies from charging outrageous fees. The Brazilian
authorities have expressed some interest in deterring these
agencies, but under existing Brazilian law prosecution is
very difficult.


8. (SBU) We wish we could issue more of the "bad" cases.
When an employer can demonstrate that his workers from prior
years have returned, the issuance rate soars. Too often,
however, we have petitioners like one Massachusetts cleaning
company, whose prior-year beneficiaries all disappeared into
the large illegal Brazilian population in Massachusetts.
Perhaps the employers' future participation in the H2B
program could be conditioned on the return rate of their
prior employees.


9. (U) Meanwhile, next time you are gambling in Connecticut
or getting on a chairlift at a ski area, we suggest you
greet the employees by saying "bom dia."
McMullen