Thursday, September 09, 2010
DeFazio questions use of foreign workers on forest-thinning projects
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio says he wants a federal agency to scrutinize companies that employ foreign workers on Oregon tree-thinning projects financed by federal stimulus funds. DeFazio sent a letter last week to the Department of Labor's acting inspector general, Daniel Petrole, asking him to investigate. The Springfield Democrat said foreign workers should not be hired at the expense of qualified Oregonians. Last month, The Bulletin newspaper in Bend reported that several companies awarded U.S. Forest Service contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act filed applications to use foreign workers. Four companies that sought permission to employ 300 foreign workers in Oregon received a total of $10 million to thin forests. Under the temporary worker program administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services division of the Department of Homeland Security, employers must report that there aren't enough U.S. workers available...more
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2 comments:
Why not use the thousands of minimum security prisoners to do this job that are imprisoned for minor offenses and cost the states millions of dollars?
Great, johnr, instead of giving the jobs to illegals, give them to felons. Meanwhile the unemp-loyment in rural Oregon tops 20% and over 25% of the non-illegal, non-felon population is on food stamps.
By the way, our prisons are overcrowded with serious criminals. We can't afford to incarcerate "minor offenders". Please send us your address so we can dump some of the excess in your neighborhood.
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