Farm workers harvest romaine lettuce in Salinas, California on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI |
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Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The Department of Homeland Security has announced it will more than double the number of H-2B temporary worker visas available to non-agricultural workers in the U.S. in 2024.
"American businesses in industries such as hospitality and tourism, landscaping, seafood processing, and more turn to seasonal and other temporary workers in the H-2B program to help them meet demand from consumers," the DHS said in a statement. "The supplemental visa allocation will help address the need for these workers in areas where too few U.S. workers are available, helping contribute to the American economy."
The Citizenship and Immigration Services typically makes 66,000 H-2B visas available annually, but will add an additional 64,716 next year to help relieve a projected seasonal worker shortage.
DHS says this temporary rule allowing the additional seasonal workers will fulfill a pledge by the Biden administration to "expand lawful pathways as an alternative to irregular migration."
The Dept. said announcing the additional visas now will allow seasonal employers to plan ahead to fill their need for temporary workers.
20,000 of the additional visas are slated for workers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras.
"This country-specific allocation is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system that includes expanding lawful pathways for migration while strengthening consequences for those without a legal basis to remain in the United States," the statement said.
The statement said DHS and the Department of Labor will continue to enforce existing immigration employment laws, including those that ensure employers recruit and hire American workers, and that foreign workers are protected from unscrupulous employers, as required by the rules of the H-2B visas.
"Employers seeking H-2B workers must take a series of steps to test the U.S. labor market," the statement said. "They must obtain certification from DOL that there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to perform the temporary work for which they seek a prospective foreign worker, and that employing H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. The maximum period of stay in H-2B classification is three years."
The Biden administration recently proposed regulations to strengthen worker protections in the H-2A and H-2B worker visa programs, focusing on worker protections.
A larger portion of the visas will be issued in the second half of the year to account for the increase in summertime agriculture and similar jobs.
"The employment must be of a temporary nature, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, or intermittent need," the statement said.
