Tillis, other senators urge Labor Department to speed up H-2B worker visas

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), along with 25 other senators, sent a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding their frustration with the department’s certification process for H-2B visas.

The letter specifically explains the complications employers with H-2B workers encounter in their interactions with the department, such as excessive delays in requesting a prevailing wage determination.

“Small businesses in our states rely on this program for seasonal workers, and we are concerned that the U.S. Department of Labor is creating unnecessary and burdensome delays that are causing hardship for American small businesses, consumers and communities that rely on the jobs and economic growth facilitated by the H-2B program,” the senators said in the letter.

Many North Carolina employers in the seafood-processing, hospitality/tourism, landscaping and forestry industries will have to shut their doors, and local economies across the country likely will suffer, as businesses rely on these visas to fill thousands of U.S. jobs.

Tillis is committed to preserving the American Dream for younger generations and supports common-sense policies that will generate economic growth and opportunities for working families.