Due to the growing need for more seasonal workers by American businesses and to ensure the absolute protection of U.S. and foreign workers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has decided to create more opportunities for temporary nonagricultural workers by increasing the number of H-2B visa holders by nearly 65,000. Working hand-in-hand with the Department of Labor (DOL), the DHS has designed this visa program to ensure that employers follow the due process and abide by the legal framework of labor employment in the United States.
The Importance to American Economy
Seasonal workers are essential to American businesses to meet consumer demand in various sectors, including hospitality and tourism, food processing, and landscaping. By allocating supplemental visas, the American economy will be able to meet the need for seasonal workers in areas where there are not enough workers available. This program will also strengthen U.S. worker protections against unscrupulous employers who might try to exploit the workers by underpaying them and maintaining unsafe work conditions.
How the Supplemental Visa Works
The visas were made available at the beginning of the fiscal year, which started on October 1, 2022. It ensures that American businesses have ample time to plan for their peak-season labor needs. Out of the 64,716 additional visas under this program, about 20,000 are for people from Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
The remaining 44,716 additional visas will be available to the returning workers who received an H-2B visa or were given H-2B status in the last three years. It is in tandem with the Biden Administration’s pledge to expand legal pathways as an alternative to irregular migration, broaden opportunities for seasonal and circular labor, and fuel economic growth.
However, there are certain stringent conditions attached to the program. The H-2B program permits employers to offer only temporary employment to noncitizens who can perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States.
Therefore, employers seeking H-2B workers must clearly state in their petitions that there need to be more U.S. workers who are agile, qualified, available, and willing to do the temporary work for which they seek foreign workers. The employers must also assert that hiring H-2B workers will not negatively impact similarly hired U.S. workers’ pay and working conditions.
Efforts to Strengthen the Integrity of the Program
Based on the report that H-2B workers cannot often exercise their rights in the face of abusive employment situations, DHS and DOL have put some mechanisms in place to safeguard all H-2B workers from exploitation and abuse. They also ensure that employers do not improperly hire or recruit U.S. workers who are capable, willing, qualified, and available to carry out the temporary work, per the law.
One of the steps to strengthen these efforts is the creation of the H-2B White Worker Protection Taskforce, which the White House convened. The Taskforce builds on the actions in both departments to revitalize the H-2 temporary visa programs. Its priorities are to identify and manage the threats to the H-2B program integrity, the H-2B workers’ fundamental vulnerabilities, and the impermissible use of the program to dodge employing U.S. workers.
DHS also scrutinizes employers during the supplemental cap petition process to ensure the achievement of the obligations and specifications of the H-2B program. Ultimately, Maria Ximena Sussman of Sussman Law Firm, PLLC says, “to learn more about the H-2B program safeguards and eligibility requirements, visit the temporary final rule and the Cap Count for H-2B Non-immigrants webpage.
