| 31 | | ''Pulso ONG'' was developed to address this problem. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (Center for Migrant Rights, or CDM), a team member of ''Pulso ONG'', is a U.S. non-profit with headquarters in Mexico City and additional offices in Baltimore, Maryland, and Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca. Part of CDM’s work involves research, education, and policy advocacy related to the H-2A and H-2B temporary work visa programs. In 2012, over 110,000 migrants workers were employed on H-2 visas in the U.S. and over 80% of those workers were from Mexico. |
| | 31 | ''Pulso'' was developed to address this problem. Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (Center for Migrant Rights, or CDM), a team member of ''Pulso'', is a U.S. non-profit with headquarters in Mexico City and additional offices in Baltimore, Maryland, and Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca. Part of CDM’s work involves research, education, and policy advocacy related to the H-2A and H-2B temporary work visa programs. In 2012, over 110,000 migrants workers were employed on H-2 visas in the U.S. and over 80% of those workers were from Mexico. |
| 35 | | ''Pulso ONG'' would provide CDM with the crucial ability to fill the information vacuum about recruitment under the H-2 temporary work visa programs. For the past 5 years, CDM has collected information on recruitment through in-person surveys with migrants. The in-person survey is costly and slow, when taking into account personnel time and travel costs and considering that many migrant-sending communities are located in remote areas of the country. In recent years, however, CDM has noticed a significant increase in access to and familiarity with mobile technology. Almost all temporary migrant workers, especially the younger generation, regularly use mobile phones and SMS technology. A short survey sent to CDM’s database of migrant workers would generate rapid results, with the number of responses likely topping the total number of surveys collected by CDM during the past 5 years. SMS surveys typically generate a higher response rate than email or web-based surveys. |
| | 35 | ''Pulso'' would provide CDM with the crucial ability to fill the information vacuum about recruitment under the H-2 temporary work visa programs. For the past 5 years, CDM has collected information on recruitment through in-person surveys with migrants. The in-person survey is costly and slow, when taking into account personnel time and travel costs and considering that many migrant-sending communities are located in remote areas of the country. In recent years, however, CDM has noticed a significant increase in access to and familiarity with mobile technology. Almost all temporary migrant workers, especially the younger generation, regularly use mobile phones and SMS technology. A short survey sent to CDM’s database of migrant workers would generate rapid results, with the number of responses likely topping the total number of surveys collected by CDM during the past 5 years. SMS surveys typically generate a higher response rate than email or web-based surveys. |
| 71 | | * Single-use surveys for research. Some of the most egregious abuses faced by internationally recruited workers are all but invisible to policy-makers and governments. For example, temporary migrant workers are often forced to take out exploitative, high-interest loans to cover recruitment, visa, and travel costs, meaning that they arrive in the U.S. with considerable debt. Using ''Pulso ONG'', CDM could design a short survey about the use of loans to highlight the problem. The research could be presented to government officials and policy makers to support the creation of policies that would mitigate this problem. |
| 72 | | * Single-use survey about a current policy proposal. CDM believes that migrant workers should be included in the policy discussions that directly affect them. For this reason, when lawmakers and federal agencies publish new laws and regulations related to the H-2 temporary visa programs, CDM often seeks out the opinions of migrant workers and includes them in public comments, briefs, and senate hearings. Given the short timeline associated with this process, CDM is often unable to collect a substantial response from migrant workers and instead relies on anecdotes from a handful of individuals. ''Pulso ONG'' would allow CDM to gather significant feedback from the temporary migrant worker population in a timely manner. Findings would be made public and included in debates related to the proposed policy. |
| 73 | | * Ongoing baseline survey about recruitment. CDM would use ''Pulso ONG'' to gather baseline data on recruitment patterns through a regular survey sent to workers every 4-6 months. In addition to monitoring trends in recruitment practices and abuses, CDM could use the data to evaluate the effectives of new legislation and regulations. For example, the Department of Labor implemented a prohibition on recruitment fees in 2009. CDM’s field work and survey responses indicate that the prohibition did not have a significant on-the-ground effect on the use of recruitment fees. Statistically significant responses through a ''Pulso ONG'' baseline survey would allow CDM to collect critical information about the implementation and enforcement of new legislation and regulations. |
| 74 | | * Alerts and polling about urgent actions. In early 2013, CDM began receiving reports by migrant workers about a fraudulent recruitment company operating in over a dozen states in Mexico. The agency, called Chamba Mexico, was charging workers 7,000 pesos in exchange for an H-2 temporary work visa, though no worker ever receive one. Subsequently, the offices were closed and the agency owners fled. Thousands of workers have come forward as victims of the fraud scheme and, to date, none has received a reimbursement of their fee. Unfortunately, these fraud schemes are not uncommon. CDM could use ''Pulso ONG'' to prevent and investigate recruitment fraud schemes by sending alerts and collecting crucial information about fraudulent actors through worker polls. |
| | 71 | * Single-use surveys for research. Some of the most egregious abuses faced by internationally recruited workers are all but invisible to policy-makers and governments. For example, temporary migrant workers are often forced to take out exploitative, high-interest loans to cover recruitment, visa, and travel costs, meaning that they arrive in the U.S. with considerable debt. Using ''Pulso'', CDM could design a short survey about the use of loans to highlight the problem. The research could be presented to government officials and policy makers to support the creation of policies that would mitigate this problem. |
| | 72 | * Single-use survey about a current policy proposal. CDM believes that migrant workers should be included in the policy discussions that directly affect them. For this reason, when lawmakers and federal agencies publish new laws and regulations related to the H-2 temporary visa programs, CDM often seeks out the opinions of migrant workers and includes them in public comments, briefs, and senate hearings. Given the short timeline associated with this process, CDM is often unable to collect a substantial response from migrant workers and instead relies on anecdotes from a handful of individuals. ''Pulso'' would allow CDM to gather significant feedback from the temporary migrant worker population in a timely manner. Findings would be made public and included in debates related to the proposed policy. |
| | 73 | * Ongoing baseline survey about recruitment. CDM would use ''Pulso'' to gather baseline data on recruitment patterns through a regular survey sent to workers every 4-6 months. In addition to monitoring trends in recruitment practices and abuses, CDM could use the data to evaluate the effectives of new legislation and regulations. For example, the Department of Labor implemented a prohibition on recruitment fees in 2009. CDM’s field work and survey responses indicate that the prohibition did not have a significant on-the-ground effect on the use of recruitment fees. Statistically significant responses through a ''Pulso'' baseline survey would allow CDM to collect critical information about the implementation and enforcement of new legislation and regulations. |
| | 74 | * Alerts and polling about urgent actions. In early 2013, CDM began receiving reports by migrant workers about a fraudulent recruitment company operating in over a dozen states in Mexico. The agency, called Chamba Mexico, was charging workers 7,000 pesos in exchange for an H-2 temporary work visa, though no worker ever receive one. Subsequently, the offices were closed and the agency owners fled. Thousands of workers have come forward as victims of the fraud scheme and, to date, none has received a reimbursement of their fee. Unfortunately, these fraud schemes are not uncommon. CDM could use ''Pulso'' to prevent and investigate recruitment fraud schemes by sending alerts and collecting crucial information about fraudulent actors through worker polls. |
| 77 | | While ''Pulso ONG'' is currently designed to draw information from the migrant population, it could be expanded in the future to serve as a dispatch center, connecting migrants and advocates. Migrants could use ''Pulso ONG'' to submit requests for information and/or assistance via SMS. Keyword identification would allow incoming SMS requests to be sorted by theme and directed to the appropriate respondent. Either a single organization or networks of migrant advocacy organizations could establish these dispatch centers. The following examples demonstrate some possibilities for how the expanded version of ''Pulso ONG'' could be utilized by NGOs: |
| 78 | | * A network of NGOs could establish a dispatch center using the expanded version of ''Pulso ONG''. Incoming requests could be sorted by keywords and directed to individual member NGOs, depending on the content of the SMS request. E.g., a member NGO that assists migrants in cases of deportation could be registered to receive incoming requests containing the word "DEPORTATION." By coordinating service provision under a network, a single SMS sent to a designated number would give migrants a direct line of communication to NGOs. |
| 79 | | * A single NGO could use the expanded version of Pulso ONG to develop a tool that would connect migrants with resources. Incoming requests, tagged with keywords and location information, could either generate auto-responses with a list of resources/NGOs, be individually answered by the NGO, or be referred to other NGOs working on the issue in question. Such a tool would provide migrant workers with vital information about resources in their area or about a specific issue. |
| | 77 | While ''Pulso'' is currently designed to draw information from the migrant population, it could be expanded in the future to serve as a dispatch center, connecting migrants and advocates. Migrants could use ''Pulso'' to submit requests for information and/or assistance via SMS. Keyword identification would allow incoming SMS requests to be sorted by theme and directed to the appropriate respondent. Either a single organization or networks of migrant advocacy organizations could establish these dispatch centers. The following examples demonstrate some possibilities for how the expanded version of ''Pulso'' could be utilized by NGOs: |
| | 78 | * A network of NGOs could establish a dispatch center using the expanded version of ''Pulso''. Incoming requests could be sorted by keywords and directed to individual member NGOs, depending on the content of the SMS request. E.g., a member NGO that assists migrants in cases of deportation could be registered to receive incoming requests containing the word "DEPORTATION." By coordinating service provision under a network, a single SMS sent to a designated number would give migrants a direct line of communication to NGOs. |
| | 79 | * A single NGO could use the expanded version of Pulso to develop a tool that would connect migrants with resources. Incoming requests, tagged with keywords and location information, could either generate auto-responses with a list of resources/NGOs, be individually answered by the NGO, or be referred to other NGOs working on the issue in question. Such a tool would provide migrant workers with vital information about resources in their area or about a specific issue. |
