Re: White House visit yields no visa thaw, March 20 - March 26, 2006, Volume 12, Number 11
"This issue involves a number of countries, not just Slovakia." That's the key issue. If the US gives SK a visa waiver it will have to extend it to the other Visegrad countries-therein lies the dilemma.
There's a small but vocal group in the United States that is highly opposed to any type of relaxation of immigration controls, and so the administration has to tread carefully on the issue.
The priority right now is the H2C, a three year temporary work visa for low skill jobs. The H2C is not without problems. For example, it does not offer guest workers a roadmap to citizenship. However, it's a small step in the right direction, and at this point the internal political climate in the US only allows for small steps.
John Sherwood,
Washington, DC
