Sanders Compares Guest Worker Program to Slavery

Sunday night, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden squared off in the first debate between the two presidential candidates for the 2020 Democratic nomination. While the two candidates have taken a number of similar positions on immigration during the campaign, some contrasts were drawn when Biden criticized Sanders for his vote against the 2007 "comprehensive immigration reform" bill (read the full exchange here).

Sanders opposed the bill because it expanded the "H-2B" low-skilled, guest-worker provisions, which Sanders called "slavery."

In his op-ed "Sanders Blasts Biden's Immigration Policy as Akin to Slavery. He's Right," Timothy P. Carney writes:

"...Sanders is basically right. Low-skilled, guest-worker laws are exploitative and akin to indentured servitude.

A guest worker lacks liberty and leverage because if he displeases his boss, he can get deported. This is the point for some supporters of guest-workers. They want workers without recourse."

The U.S. issues on average about 700,000 guest worker visas per year.

While increasing the inputs through immigration does enlarge the overall economy, it is an inequality driver: a transfer to capital at the expense of labor.

NumbersUSA advocates reducing unnecessary guest-worker visas, and the wage depression that accompanies such programs.

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