Seasonal Workers (H-2B Visas)

Background

H-2B visas allow foreign nationals to work for a sponsoring employer to fill seasonal positions (except in agriculture), on one-time projects, during times of exceptionally high workload, or intermittently.  H-2B visas are used in such industries as landscaping, seasonal hospitality, and seasonal construction, and to meet specific needs in manufacturing, food packaging and processing, fisheries, retail and other industries.  By law, employers must first advertise through the state and federal labor departments and hire U.S. workers for these positions; H-2B workers will only be approved if there remain openings after this domestic recruitment, and visa holders must go home at the end of the season.  Many H-2B employers also employ hundreds of U.S. citizens. The H-2B visa program is capped at 66,000 visas per year, and this number has not been adjusted since this visa category was initially enacted in 1990.  The cap has been hit every year since 2004,  leaving many U.S. employers, who depend on this short-term visa program to augment their American workforce, in crisis.

The Chamber of Commerce, with its allies in the H-2B Workforce Coalition, urged Congress to pass a fix to this problem to help many of the small businesses that need these seasonal workers.  Congress responded in the past by exempting temporary seasonal workers who have participated in the H-2B visa program during one of the past three fiscal years and abided by all its rules—including returning to their country of origin—from counting towards the cap.  Unfortunately, this relief expired at the end of the 2007 fiscal year, and employers have been left without a way to recruit the valuable workers that our country needs.  It is imperative that Congress enact H-2B relief as soon as possible or businesses will be forced to scale down their operations, or even close their doors.

U.S. Chamber Position

The increasing reliance of employers on the H-2B category, and the fact that the cap has been reached two years in a row, supports our long-held position that our immigration system as a whole must be reformed to meet the economic needs of our country.  While some employers are able to take advantage of the H-2B category, many are shut out completely because their jobs do not meet the temporary requirements.  Artificial caps and an outdated, bureaucratic system actually encourage illegal immigration. We will continue to work toward long-term comprehensive immigration reform that expands and streamlines the temporary visa category for short-term and seasonal jobs, creates a means for employers with long-term jobs to access the immigration system, and addresses the status of the millions of undocumented workers who are already participating in our industries and economy.  The Chamber will also continue to fight off any increased hurdles or protections that could make the H-2B program unworkable for employers.