JAMAICA: ENDING THE VISA EXEMPTION FOR JAMAICAN H2A

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000408 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/CAR (ACADIEUX) (VDEPIRRO) (WSMITH) WHA/EPSC (MROONEY)(FCORNEILLE) INR/RES (RWARNER) S/CT SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS AND FAS HOMELAND SECURITY FOR ALEX GISSER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS ELAB PTER ASEC PBTS KCRM PHUM KFRD SOCI JM XL SUBJECT: JAMAICA: ENDING THE VISA EXEMPTION FOR JAMAICAN H2A WORKERS Summary and Recommendation -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Summary: For over 65 years, Jamaican farm laborers have entered the U.S. to work on the H2A program without visas. Post believes that this practice fosters an environment conducive to corruption, political favoritism, fraud and potential threats to U.S. national security. Post recommends that the Jamaican H2A program should be reconstituted so that applicants must go through the same visa interview process that Jamaican H2B applicants and H2A applicants in other countries currently undergo. End Summary and Recommendation. Background -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Each year, over 12,000 Jamaican nationals participate in H2A and H2B guest worker programs in the United States. However, while H2B applicants must submit to visa interviews and background checks at the Embassy in Kingston, per CFR '212.1(4)(b)(i),Jamaica is perhaps the only country in the world whose H2A agricultural workers are permitted to enter the U.S. without visas. Post believes that this loophole raises troubling national security and fraud prevention concerns, and should be rectified. History -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Jamaican guest worker program has its origins in the U.S.'s labor shortages during World War II. While the Mexican bracero program of the 1940s through the 1960s supplied agricultural workers in the western U.S., language, cultural, and transportation concerns made workers from the West Indies more popular in the eastern United States. ¶4. (SBU) As Jamaica was a British colony at the time, the initial agreements were between the governments of the USA and the United Kingdom. The British West Indies Central Labour Organization (BWICLO) was established in 1943 to facilitate the provision of laborers from throughout the British Caribbean, although the vast majority of the workers in the program were always Jamaican. A Regional Labour Board (RLB) was established in 1951 to oversee and formulate the guest worker policies of the BWICLO. The current H2A program was introduced in 1947 and the H2B program in 1970. As the British began divesting themselves of their colonies in the 1950s, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) took over the program and it was renamed the West Indies Central Labour Organization (WICLO) in 1983. In 2001, the program was renamed yet again, this time as the Jamaica Central Labour Organization (JCLO). Since 2004, JCLO has overseen Jamaica's H2A, H2B, and J1 student exchange programs. Abuse and Corruption Concerns -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In a meeting on April 24, 2009, representatives of Jamaica's Ministry of Labour (MOL) discussed the H2A and H2B programs with Emboffs from Embassy Kingston. MOL representatives explained that the Ministry issues several thousand "cards" (actually application forms) per year to Members of Parliament, community and political party leaders, pastors, training institutions, etc., that are then distributed to those they believe might be interested in applying to work in the H2A program. Applicants are then screened for suitability by MOL, followed by medical examinations and criminal background checks, before they are interviewed by potential petitioners from the U.S. and Canada. Those certified by MOL as eligible for the program are provided with Government of Jamaica (GOJ) ID cards, although these are not secure and would be easily counterfeited or altered. ¶6. (SBU) Emboffs expressed concern that the "card" system is prone to abuse, corruption and favoritism. Those given these much sought after "cards" were free to distribute them to whomever they wished, suggesting that the pool of potential applicants for these relatively lucrative employment opportunities might be limited to political supporters, congregants, and acquaintances of the "card" distributors in order to garner votes and political support. MOL countered that the system was a good one, as those entrusted with the "cards" were in unique positions to know who in their communities would be most interested in and appropriate for the program. (COMMENT: Clearly, the U.S. government should not allow its own guest worker program to be used in such a potentially partisan manner(END COMMENT). ¶7. (SBU) The Consular Section's Fraud Prevention Unit screens all H2B groups for fraud, compliance with H2B regulations, and to monitor how many applicants are issued on individual petitions at posts around the world to ensure that only the approved numbers are issued. In the absence of a visa interview, however, it is unclear who monitors the Jamaican H2A program to ascertain that the proper number of guest workers enter on each DHS petition and to ensure that guest workers aren't forced to pay inordinate fees to be KINGSTON 00000408 002 OF 002 included on the DHS petition. National Security Concerns -------------- 8.(SBU) Without the visa interview, consular officers do not have opportunity to determine whether applicants actually possess the skills and experience required of H2A guest workers, nor can they observe verbal and nonverbal cues that might suggest fraudulent or criminal intent. Furthermore, during their visa interviews at Embassy Kingston's Consular Section, H2B applicants are screened through a number of criminal and watchlist databases - including the Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS),Facial Recognition, the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS),as well as DHS's Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) - to ensure that those with serious criminal histories or terrorist connections are not admitted to the U.S. through guest worker programs. However, H2A workers are not routinely subject to the fingerprint, facial recognition, and name checks that H2B and other applicants undergo prior to entering the U.S. Although Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at the Point of Entry collects biometric information (photographs and one fingerprint) on all non-U.S. citizens through US-VISIT, these data are only processed through the IDENT database, while the CLASS, NCIC, and IAFIS databases are accessed only if the visitor is referred for a secondary inspection. 214b Concerns -------------- ¶9. (SBU) INA section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) provides that an H-2A worker is a nonimmigrant who has a residence in a foreign country that s/he has no intention of abandoning and who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services. In H2B and other nonimmigrant visa interviews, specially-trained consular officers may ask probing questions and observe microexpressions and other verbal and nonverbal indicators to ascertain the applicant's credibility and potential intent. Given that Jamaican H2A workers are not interviewed by consular officers, these means are not available to assess whether the worker overcomes the 214b presumption of immigrant intent. Furthermore, without personal contact information on H2A guest workers, it is difficult if not impossible to conduct consular validation studies to determine overstay and absconder rates. Implications for Embassy Kingston -------------- ¶10. (SBU) While Embassy Kingston's Consular Section would require additional resources were Jamaican H2A applicants required to submit to visa interviews, these resources would be offset by additional revenues in the form of visa interview fees. An additional 4,000 visa applicants per year might require, at most, one additional FSO and two additional LESs in Embassy Kingston's Consular Section. However, given the USD 131 interview fee, the Consular Section would realize an increase in revenues of around USD 524,000 annually. Potential Jamaican Response -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Given the importance of remittances to the Jamaican economy, it is anticipated that GOJ and the MOL will oppose any alteration in the current visa-less H2A program. However, Canada, which hosts twice as many Jamaican agricultural guest workers annually as does the U.S., began requiring the guest workers to submit to visa interviews in the late 1990s without any apparent ill effects or reduction in the number of Jamaican participants in the program. Similarly, the H2B visa requirement has not limited Jamaican participation in that program - far more Jamaicans work in the U.S. on H2Bs than on H2As. Indeed, tens of thousands of H2A guest workers from other countries are required to have visas without any apparent deleterious effects on their participation in the program. 12.(SBU) Finally, in Post's estimate it should be strongly emphasized that the U.S. is not recommending any new limits to or the cessation of the program, simply that Jamaican H2A guest workers should submit to the same procedures followed by H2A guest workers from every other nation in order to work in the U.S. Conclusion and Recommendation -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Post believes that the current system whereby Jamaican H2A guest agricultural workers may enter the US without a visa offers the potential for abuse, corruption, and fraud, while affording criminals and terrorists a potential means of entry. Given that the H2A program has been successful in other countries despite the visa requirement, Post recommends that Jamaican H2A guest agricultural workers be required to have visas as well. MOSS