Losing a job is almost never easy. But it's especially bitter to lose a job because your boss used a government program to hire foreigners instead.
That's what these three Americans say happened to them.
To help American companies fill unskilled jobs that U.S. workers don't want to do, the federal government has a special program: Foreign "guest workers" are granted temporary H-2 visas and given the right to work legally in the U.S. The program has one bedrock principle: It should never deprive any American of a job.
But a BuzzFeed News investigation found that many businesses go to extraordinary lengths to deny jobs to U.S. workers so they can hire foreigners instead. Since these jobs are unskilled, the Americans who lose out are often poor or working class. Here is how three of them felt when foreign workers got their jobs. (Their comments have been edited for readability.)
Cheryl Breland, American, said she was fired from a farm near Moultrie, Georgia
Nicole Burt, American, applied for jobs at stables in Kentucky but never got a call back
Derrick Green, American, said he was fired from two farms near Moultrie, Georgia
Marisela Valdez, Mexican, came to Louisiana as a guest worker
