This research paper will explore the different conflicts between the H-2A guest worker program in the United States and the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits indentured servitude. It will delve into the structure of migrants’ working contracts pertaining to their guest worker programs, as well as the alarming conditions in the guest worker environments.

The examination of the guest worker initiatives, labor conditions, contractual agreements, freedom of movement restrictions, and wage and living conditions will hopefully provide the necessary insight into the darker side of guest worker programs. This exploration will also extend to include the legal framework and oversight governing these programs, assessing their effectiveness in preventing Thirteenth Amendment violations. In forming the foundation for a thesis, this paper will analyze the legal interpretations of the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibitions on indentured servitude, as well as discuss how the H-2A program’s characteristics pose a violation of those legal interpretations. Because H-2A visas are granted primarily for agricultural type jobs and because agricultural jobs are the ones most often subject to exploitation and poor working conditions, these are the guest worker programs that begin to look most like slavery. Accordingly, potential violations with the Thirteenth Amendment arise.

The paper will then provide solutions for these violations, centering mostly on stricter oversight through the Thirteenth Amendment of working conditions, compensation, and contractual arrangements. Through an application of a novel “badges and incidents” test, this paper will argue that Congress is within its power to effectuate the change necessary to bring the program into compliance with the Thirteenth Amendment. By analyzing this issue through the lens of intending to promote human rights for migrants coming into the United States, this paper will provide a helpful rhetorical framework for engaging in discussions moving forward to solve this issue.

Continue reading The Thirteenth Amendment’s Uninvited Guest: Unmasking the Constitutional Dilemma of the H-2A Guest Worker Program in the United States