Updating the B1, H2, Bricklayers Discussion

Over the summer, CBS News did an investigative report into the building of American auto plants by foreign laborers improperly utilizing B1/B2 visas. It’s a great way to show that the discussion and concerns of International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafstmen v. Meese. (p. 362 in Legomsky’s 6th ed.) continue to be live issues 32 years later.

I started with this short synopsis of the report, which I played in it’s entirety. It’s only 3 minutes long.

Next, I played from 1:07-2:15 0f the segment below. It’s a nice synopsis of what B1 is supposed to cover and how B1/B2 classification hides the annual number of business visitors to the United States.

Finally, I played from 7:36-8:33 of this report (it’s not on Youtube, but the CBS website). In that minute, a B1/B2 worker talks about how he was coached to make it past immigration at the border by identifying himself as a supervisor.

All in all, a great set of materials to update the case and add to class discussion.

One final note – if you’re using Problems 1 & 2 following Bricklayers, check out my earlier post highlighting a NYT article that provides helpful background information on international trucking.

-KitJ