October 30, 2013
On Monday, October 28, H.R. 3344, the Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act of 2013 (FORTE), a bill that regulates foreign labor recruiters, was introduced in the House.
H.R. 3344 reforms the employment-based visa system to include some additional worker protections, including critical safeguards against recruitment abuse. The bill includes a fee ban, a recruiter registry, and provides for disclosures to be given to workers in their home countries. The bill also includes important enforcement mechanisms. H.R. 3344 states that the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of State should make reasonable efforts to ensure that foreign aid includes anti-slavery and anti-trafficking priorities, such as supply chain monitoring.
Some important worker protections included in the Senate immigration reform bill, S. 744, such as protections from discrimination in the recruitment process are absent in this bill. Further, the worker protections do not cover all temporary work visa categories.
CDM is encouraged by the broad bipartisan support for monitoring foreign labor recruitment in both the House and the Senate, a major advancement in preventing recruitment abuse and trafficking.
A more detailed analysis of the bill will be provided as it is completed.