Immigration Article of the Day: “What Nations are Doing About Immigrant Workers in Downturn Economies: Examining and Comparing the Recent Treatment of Immigrant Workers in the United States and Spain” by Maria Pabón Lopez

“What Nations are Doing About Immigrant Workers in Downturn Economies: Examining and Comparing the Recent Treatment of Immigrant Workers in the United States and Spain” Notre Dame Journal of International, Company, & Human Rights Law, Vol. 1, No. 80, 2011 DEAN MARIA PABON LOPEZ, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

ABSTRACT: This article examines both the current treatment of immigrant workers in the United States and Spain and how the American and Spanish legal systems respond to issues regarding their foreign workers during difficult economic circumstances. It contrasts the situation of undocumented workers in the United States with the situation of immigrant workers in Spain, both before the economic downturn, when an amnesty program was put in place, and after the downturn, following the enactment of a voluntary immigrant return plan. It then compares the approaches of the two countries, contrasting Spain’s amnesty and subsequent voluntary return plan to the treatment of undocumented workers in the U.S.

KJ