guest workers: not all it's cracked up to be

Here are some resources on the Bush Administration's new "guest workers" proposal. To start with, Josh Micah Marshall, a journalist in D.C., has the transcript of a conference call with a couple of senior administration officials and other journalists that has a lot of detail about the plan. Economist Max Sawicky offers his thoughts about what the guest worker plan is and is not and why he opposes it. Attorney and labor activist Nathan Newman says that the plan is part of a continuing "race to the bottom" on labor rights. Emma Goldman finds that the best way to understand the program is to assume that the Bush Administration are cheap labor conservatives. Colorado Luis fears that the plan will create "a racially-defined underclass that provides labor but doesn't get to participate in society as equals". He also doubts that Bush will really win much of the Latino vote with this proposal. The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride provides a collection of statements by various immigrant advocacy and labor groups including the AFL-CIO. Six presidential candidates have statements on their website specifically responding to the Bush plan. In alphabetical order by last name: Clark, Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry, Kucinich, and Lieberman. Missing are Dean, Moseley Braun, and Sharpton. As a Kucinich supporter, I'm taking leave to link to his position statement on immigrant rights since his press release on the Bush plan is rather brief and only alludes to his stance.