Responding to constituents’ concerns in Maine about the need for more temporary foreign workers to fill non-agricultural jobs, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) and their congressional colleagues are seeking a federal remedy.
The Maine congressional delegation on Jan.11 wrote a letter to federal agency heads alerting them that businesses across their state are anxious about the H-2B visa cap for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2018 having already been reached. And the lawmakers also noted their own concern about H-2B visa supply and demand in their state.
In their letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta, the federal lawmakers have requested “an immediate audit” by DHS of unused H-2B visas from the first half of FY 2018 and have asked that if the full allotment of visas hasn’t been depleted, that they be made available “as soon as possible” for the second half of the fiscal year. Additionally, the lawmakers asked DOL to process applications based on the order in which applications were received rather than in a random order within a particular day.
“H-2B visas, which certify foreign workers to be temporarily employed in the United States, are heavily relied upon by Maine’s many tourism and hospitality businesses that are in need of seasonal, temporary workers beyond the number that they can hire in our state and region,” wrote the Maine congressional delegation.
“In many cases, the continued employment of their full-time, year-round workers also depends on the availability of temporary workers during peak seasons,” according to the letter, which also was signed by U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME).
Businesses around the state have contacted the lawmakers’ offices to relay their worries about the already-exceeded 33,000 numerical cap for H-2B visas for the first half of FY 2018, according to their letter.
Moreover, the Maine congressional delegation pointed out that the large number of visa applications for the second half of FY 2018 poses particularly bad news for their state, as its peak tourist time starts later in the season. “We remain concerned that the number of applications received so far suggests that many employers with a date of need later than April 1, 2018, could be capped out of the program again this year,” the delegation wrote.
The lawmakers added that because Maine’s tourism season has a later starting date compared to that for other H-2B visa program participants, the program cap could be met before many of Maine’s businesses get a chance to hire enough workers. “Combined with the low unemployment rate in our state, the effect could be extremely harmful for Maine’s businesses and communities in which they are located,” according to their letter.
According to Collins’ office, the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service within DHS issues 66,000 H-2B visas to seasonal businesses every year, allotting 33,000 for each half of the fiscal year. The lawmakers pointed out that the cap for the first half of FY 2018 was reached on Dec. 21, 2017.
And on New Year’s Day—the first day employers could file a visa allocation request for the second half of the fiscal year—DOL reported an enormous volume of H-2B applications, submitting 4,500 H-2B visa applications covering more than 81,600 workers, according to the letter. The lawmakers wrote that this “extremely high volume of applications highlights the importance of H-2B visas to businesses across the country.” Reports that applications filed this day are being processed in a random order instead of with regards to the time of receipt is what also concerned the delegation.
The Maine delegation’s Jan. 11 letter is its latest effort to support home-state businesses, which are prepping to staff up for vacation season. Last year’s cap was hit on March 13, leaving many small Maine businesses without enough summer workers, according to the members. The delegation had pressed DHS and DOL on the matter then, and the agencies agreed to issue up to 15,000 more visas in July 2017, according to Sen. Collins’ office.