US Senate Curtails Foreign Workers Allowed Under Immigration Bill

The U.S. Senate has drastically revised a guest worker program that is a key provision of a controversial new immigration reform bill. Lawmakers approved an amendment Wednesday to cap the number of foreign laborers allowed to enter the United States to only 200-thousand a year. The original guest worker proposal would have allowed 400-thousand foreign laborers into the country, with an option to increase it to 600-thousand if there is a high demand for them.

The White House says the guest worker program is a crucial component of the overall reform bill. But Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, who sponsored the amendment, says the original proposal was too large and untested, and could depress wages for U.S. workers.

美国国会参议院对一项客工计划作出重大修改，客工计划是这项有争议新移民改革议案中的关键条款。参议员星期三通过一项修正案，将每年允许进入美国的外国劳工人数控制在20万人以内。原先的客工计划提议允许40万外国劳工进入美国，而且可以选择在需求巨大的情况下，将人数增至60万。

白宫表示，客工计划是全面移民改革议案的重要组成部份。但是，提出修正案的民主党籍参议员杰夫.宾加曼说，最初提案中的客工人数太大，也没有经过验证，可能会压低美国工人的工资。