guest worker

In Monterey County, growers are building lodging for thousands of guest workers coming in on H-2A visas.

But in Monterey County, one of the more expensive regions in the nation, the obligation to provide an exploding number of guest workers with suitable housing was exacerbating a regional affordable housing crisis.

It would eliminate a controversial minimum hourly wage structure for guest workers laid out under the current program unless the Government Accountability Office finds that the employment of H2-A workers undermines the domestic workforce.

To address the tight labor market, the National Assn. of Home Builders has advocated for a guest worker program.

That guest worker program was launched during World War II to bring Mexican workers to America’s fields while American workers were fighting overseas, and continued to grow after the war ended.