Dead wrong

Letters to the Editor
Friday, April 17, 2009



My friend Zaldy Dandan's editorial segment in Thursday's Variety titled “A big problem” is dead wrong. Zaldy asserts that the Labor Department is denying “more” labor permits and that is a “problem.” The Labor Department processes applications from employers more quickly and efficiently than in prior years. Deficiencies and denials are cleared up or decided promptly. Workers are cleared to work much faster than in prior years.

So Zaldy, would you have us grant labor permits for employers who are running scams and collecting money from foreign workers when there is no job available at all?

Would you have us grant labor permits for employers who have no demonstrable resources with which to pay the workers and thus cause more labor cases about unpaid wages?

Would you have us grant labor permits for employers whose work premises present health and safety hazards?

Would you have us grant labor permits to employers who have had multiple labor cases in the past and have been barred from hiring more foreign workers?

The Labor Department has better automated processes now, and we can weed out unqualified employers efficiently. However, you fail to point out that when we disqualify an employer, we always give the foreign worker another chance to transfer if the worker was not at fault in the employer's failure to qualify.

Your criticism is unfounded and unfair. This Administration has no intent to shrink the foreign worker population in advance of a change in federal law. In fact, we have consistently argued that foreign workers are a valuable part of the community and should not be forcibly deported as the federalization law contemplates. The Labor Department tries hard to work with the foreign worker groups and their representatives to minimize adverse impacts on workers and on the community.

Jacinta M. Kaipat
Deputy Secretary of Labor