Foreign Labor

The majority of Californians support a guest-worker program for illegal immigrants and do not believe that they are taking jobs from the state's residents, according to a statewide poll released Thursday. In addition, those surveyed hold a more positive view of illegal immigrants than in previous years, the nonpartisan Field Poll reported. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed last month believe that undocumented immigrants are having a "favorable impact" on the state, compared to 19% in 1982.

A controversial proposal to give some of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States a path toward citizenship moved forward in a Senate committee Thursday, along with a plan that would allow additional foreigners to enter the country as guest workers -- a priority for President Bush, the business community and many Latino groups.

Asian construction workers in Dubai angered by low wages and alleged mistreatment smashed cars and offices in a riot that caused an estimated $1 million in damage and interrupted work around what is meant to be the world's tallest skyscraper. About 2,500 workers on developments surrounding the Burj Dubai tower beat security officers Tuesday, then smashed computers and files, witnesses said. They said about two dozen cars and construction machines were wrecked.

With the Senate poised for an emotional debate on immigration law this week, President Bush called Saturday for an immigration policy that embraces some foreign workers while increasing security at the nation's borders. "America does not have to choose between being a welcoming society and being a lawful society. We can do both at the same time," Bush said in his weekly radio address, which he devoted to a subject that has divided his party and the nation.

Militants attacked a U.S.-led coalition base in southern Afghanistan early today, starting a battle that killed an American soldier, a Canadian soldier and at least 12 rebels, U.S. and Canadian officials said. The fight in Helmand province came one day after militants detonated two roadside bombs in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, killing six Afghan soldiers, a Namibian citizen and three Afghan security contractors, officials said.

To understand landscape contractor Barbara Alvarez's position on illegal immigration, it helps to know she has an employee with his own chauffeur. A key, longtime worker confessed a few months ago that his driver's license renewal had been rejected. In other words, he was in this country illegally. Alvarez's solution: hire an $11-an-hour driver to take the worker to his lawns throughout the day. What else could she do? "My clients love him," the San Dimas, Calif., entrepreneur said.

As the immigration debate moved into the Senate last month, Sonoma County landscaper David Penry traveled to Washington with nine other California business owners to lobby lawmakers. On Sunday, he appeared in a national television ad sponsored by a broad set of businesses, including those in the healthcare, agriculture, hospitality, retail, roofing, plumbing, amusement park and nursery fields.

John Wessman is one of the biggest developers in the Coachella Valley. He considers Mary Bono, the celebrity congresswoman, a friend and has contributed more than $5,000 to her campaigns. But when it comes to the issue of immigration, he thinks his fellow Republican has been captured by extremists. "I don't know why Mary's over there on that," said Wessman, who contends the tough House bill she backed would worsen the area's labor shortage and "hurt a lot of her constituents, big time."

A tree branch that fell on the roof of a house in northern Virginia would remain there. Several hotel rooms at a Marriott in Maryland would have to be cleaned by somebody else. And the masonry work at a private school in the suburbs of Washington would come to a halt. The laborers who do that sort of work were all at the march Monday.

As debate rages over immigration, the United Farm Workers union and an agricultural labor contractor signed a nationwide agreement Tuesday covering guest workers. "This gives us a chance to have a national contract that protects the rights of agricultural guest workers," UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said. The contract, which provides such things as medical care and a grievance system, ends a battle between the UFW and Los Angeles-based Global Horizons Inc.