Commuter worker

A commuter worker, also known as a cross-border commuter or alien commuter is a worker who is resident in a different country to that in which they work, and crosses a national border as part of their regular commute. The term is commonly used with reference to workers who live in Mexico and cross the Mexico–United States border to work in the United States.[1] However, it can also refer to workers who cross the Canada–United States border or other national borders.[2]

The San Ysidro border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana

History

The practice of crossing the Mexico – United States border for work developed in the late 1920s, following the passing of the 1924 Immigration Act, which substantially reduced legal immigration into the United States from Mexico.[3]

In 1970, it was estimated that approximately 70,000 people commute from Mexico to the United States every day for work, where these workers made up a significant proportion of the labor force in nine main border cities.[4] A 1992 study by San Diego Dialogue, a research institute at the University of California, San Diego, estimated that there are 40,000 commuter workers in the San Diego area.

Studies have found that cross-border workers are typically older, less well paid and less well-educated than immigrant workers.[5]

United States

The majority of United States cross-border commuters have permanent resident status in the United States (a 'green card') but are permitted to reside in Mexico or Canada without losing their permanent residency if they continue to regularly commute to the United States.[6]

Skilled Canadian workers in executive or managerial roles are eligible under the North American Free Trade Agreement for a temporary L-1 immigration status, that permits them to commute to jobs in the United States. Until 2019, individual workers could apply to Customs and Border Protection at a point of entry. Since early 2019 Department of Homeland Security, regulations require employers to file L-1 applications and extensions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.[7]

Europe

In Europe, cross-border commuting within the European Union, by citizens of an EU country, requires no additional legal status due to the free movement of labour within the EU.[8]

References
  1. Guo, Eileen (8 September 2017). "The Border Commuters". The Outline. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  2. "Ambassador Bridge reduces commuter tolls". CBC. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. Martinez 1996, p. 178.
  4. Ericson, Anna-Stina (August 1970). "The impact of commuters on the Mexican-American border area". Monthly Labor Review. 93 (8): 18–27. JSTOR 41839773.
  5. Orraca Romano, Pedro Paulo (June 2015). "Immigrants and Cross-Border Workers in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region" (PDF). Frontera Norte. 27. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. LaBrucherie, Roger (June 1969). "Aliens in the Fields: The "Green-Card Commuter" under the Immigration and Naturalization Laws". Stanford Law Review. 21 (6): 1750–1776. doi:10.2307/1227530. JSTOR 1227530.
  7. Francis, Laura (24 April 2019). "New Protocol at Northern Border Could Strand Canadian Workers". Bloomberg. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  8. Dombey, Daniel (1 October 2019). "Gibraltar's cross-border workers braced for no-deal Brexit". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

Sources
  • Martínez, Oscar Jáquez (1996). U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780842024471.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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