Promising Alternatives to Irregular Migration: Expanding Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica

Violence, insecurity, and economic pressures compel tens of thousands of migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras every year to seek better livelihoods and opportunities outside their countries of origin. Some may be eligible for humanitarian protection under the limited asylum systems in the region, but most cannot access existing legal migration pathways. Expanding temporary worker programs therefore can offer an important means to convert some irregular flows into legal ones.

While expanding U.S. temporary employment programs, such as H-2 seasonal visas, is central to establishing regional alternatives to irregular migration and filling domestic labor shortages, it is insufficient without the simultaneous expansion of similar programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

As part of a Migration Policy Institute project, Building a Regional Migration System, this 2022 webcast presented research findings from a report on temporary employment pathways for Central American migrants in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Speakers offered an analysis of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada, the Border Worker Visa in Mexico, and Costa Rica’s Binational Agreement with Nicaragua, and provided recommendations to improve these pathways and promote safe, orderly, and regular migration.

Speakers:

Rafael E. Rodríguez Pellecer, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Government of Guatemala

Joe Martinez, Co-Founder and CEO, Cierto Global

Cristobal Ramón, Independent consultant on U.S. and global migration policy

Moderator:

Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Policy Analyst, MPI