FRED WAS A CONTRACT worker in the Middle East. During one of his visits to his family, he was offered a job as contract worker for a janitorial company in the US. Fred was told that he would be given the H2B temporary working visa. He paid a substantial amount borrowed from relatives to pay the recruiter.

The US Embassy consular section issued Fred an H2B good only for three months. He then worked as a maintenance worker for a small hotel in a small town in Wyoming. His salary was minimal. Often he found himself without enough money to send back to his family in the Philippines or to repay his loans. After three months, his visa expired. Instead of going back to the Philippines, he moved to California where he worked as a caregiver in a homecare facility for a minimum wage.

On Oct. 31 last year, while Fred was in the homecare facility, agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement came looking for another person whom they had listed as a deportable alien. These agents were in plain clothes and one could not detect whether they were indeed federal agents. The person they were looking for was not there so Fred was questioned instead about his status. It was discovered that he had an expired H2B. and he was eventually deported.

What did Fred actually obtain from working for three months as an H2B visa holder? Was it worth the effort and the money to invest in this working venture without being certain on the long-term effect of short-term visa validity?

Strict enforcement

In their desire to depart for the US, many immigrants grab any opportunity to leave the country. In the US, when the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill failed to pass in 2007, the Bush administration changed its immigration policy to a strict enforcement without reform.

ICE has adopted a “culture of compliance,” as evidenced by its extensive workplace enforcements with hundreds of workers taken into custody for violation of immigration law. In fact, these days, there is a shortage of jail beds and public defenders because of the increase in enforcement of immigration law and prosecution of employer violators. Almost every week, ICE reports with pride in its website its success rate in taking undocumented workers into custody and prosecuting employers.

This enforcement policy does not seem to be a fair treatment of workers who are not criminals. Fred and the thousands of recently arrived immigrants lost status while looking for a better life not just for themselves but their families.

Lack of information

Since most recruiters understand the vulnerability of intended immigrants, they offer high prices for visas even if the validity of these is short-term. They usually say that as long as the worker is able to leave the Philippines, he can fend for himself in the US. What is unknown is that arriving and working in the US is just the start of the journey. Maintaining valid immigration status in the US these days is the more challenging aspect of an immigrant story.

To avoid facing Fred’s fate, a worker with a temporary working visa should think about the subsequent step of obtaining an extension and how to make his stay and work long enough to meet his goal of a better life. There should be diligent research on the nature of the visa and what the consequence of its immediate expiration means. Questions regarding an extension of three- or four- month visas must be answered ahead of time to make sure that the amount of resources put into obtaining the visas is worth the investment.

It’s become a common occurrence that aspiring foreign workers or immigrants in desperation grab whatever it takes to reach a foreign country. But since this is only the beginning of the journey, plans of migrating must be done with prudence and diligence to be more fulfilling and successful.

It is difficult to predict immigration policy in the next administration. What is certain is that the present strict enforcement of immigration policies without regard to its consequences to US businesses and individual workers. To go ahead despite the uncertainty is still an individual decision, even if not the most practical way to attain a longer-range immigrant goal of a better life. It’s like proceeding with caution when facing a blinking red traffic light.

Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 8877177.