The phrase “jobs Americans won’t do” gets tossed around frequently during America’s overheated immigration debates. We usually think of farm workers and laborers, but apparently we can now add “ski bum” to that list.
As Denver Post writer Bruce Finley reported recently, Colorado ski resorts increasingly are turning to Latin American students to staff lift lines, mountaintop restaurants and other resort jobs. The trend has set off brisk exchanges over the nation’s immigration policies.
It sometimes seems Americans have started worrying about immigration only in the last couple of years. But in reality, immigrant-driven workforce changes have been taking place for two decades, since the last major immigration legislation was passed in the mid-1980s.
Similarly, the stereotypical all-American ski bum has been in decline for years.
In a November 1998 Post story, Anna Sandberg of the State Job Service said, “Typically in the past, they’re college kids wanting to take a year off and come ski. But they’re not doing that anymore because they can’t afford to live in these towns.”
Other snow-country observers point to the wide availability of discount season lift tickets since the late 1990s as another reason. Before that, working for a resort was the best way to ski cheaply for a season.
And foreign laborers, primarily Mexican and not students, have been an important part of the resort economy for years in the really unglamorous jobs.
The history of the ski bum aside, the growing ranks of Latin American students at Colorado’s resorts does raise a few questions about immigration policy.
The young people are in this country under a U.S. government cultural-exchange program. Critics, including Congressman Tom Tancredo, say the program’s purpose is being abused, and congressional auditors say the State Department isn’t properly overseeing the program.
The program is just one of many that allow foreigners into the U.S., and the visitors are working hard to fill a need for Colorado resorts. But, Tancredo may have a point when he says that “our myriad visa categories actually encourage abuse.”
If and when Congress gets around to taking a realistic look at immigration, streamlining the system should be a priority. Clearer rules will benefit immigrants, visitors, employers and American workers, including the rare ski bum.
