Congress Slips Massive Guest Worker Expansion Into DHS Appropriations Bill — While Teens Face the Worst Summer Job Market Since 1948

American teenagers are living through the worst summer job market in nearly eighty years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 219,000 fewer teenagers employed this May compared to last May. Teen unemployment has climbed to 14.7% – more than three times the national rate. The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects just 790,000 teen summer jobs between May and July, the lowest total since federal tracking began in 1948. NPR, CBS News, Fortune, ABC News, and Inc. have all covered the collapse.

And tucked into the FY2027 DHS Appropriations bill – with no hearings, no standalone vote, and no public debate – are three provisions that would flood those same entry-level labor markets with well over 100,000 additional foreign workers per year.

Section 409: Nearly Tripling the H-2B Cap — in the Exact Sectors Where Teens Need Jobs

The H-2B program for non-agricultural seasonal labor is governed by a statutory cap of 66,000 admissions per year. Section 409 would blow past that cap by exempting any employer that received an H-2B certification in any of the last five fiscal years, allowing them to bring in workers equal to their highest single-year total – with no aggregate limit. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the rider could generate up to 113,000 additional cap-exempt positions, pushing total H-2B admissions to as high as 190,000 – nearly triple the statutory ceiling. And because each employer’s exemption is tied to their highest prior-year count, the provision contains a built-in ratchet that could push admissions past 200,000 by the end of the decade.

The top H-2B occupations are in the same industries where teen summer hiring has collapsed

The overlap with teen employment is nearly total. The top H-2B occupations – landscaping (39.1% of certifications), hospitality, food service, and recreation – are the same sectors where entertainment and leisure employers plan to fill 70% fewer jobs than last year. Section 409 would pour tens of thousands of additional foreign workers into those exact job markets.

Section 411: An Uncapped Visa for Carnival Workers — the Definition of a Teen Summer Job

Section 411 creates a new, uncapped “P-4” visa for workers in the traveling carnival, circus, and fair industry. The industry currently uses 4,000 to 8,000 H-2B workers per year; under Section 411, those workers would move into the uncapped category – freeing up H-2B slots for other industries to import even more workers into teen-adjacent sectors.

Running rides at the county fair, selling funnel cakes at a state fair, operating game booths at a traveling carnival – these are among the most iconic teen summer jobs in America. The bill would hand them to a foreign labor pipeline with no numerical limit on growth.

Section 410: A Year-Round Guest Worker Program for Animal Agriculture

Section 410 would fundamentally rewrite the uncapped H-2A agricultural guest worker program by extending eligibility to year-round operations – dairy, livestock, poultry, and aquaculture – and authorizing admissions of up to one year at a time. The newly eligible workforce totals approximately 259,000 American jobs that could be filled by the H-2A visa. The Economic Policy Institute warned that such provisions would allow agribusiness to fill hundreds of thousands of permanent positions with temporary guest workers. The H-2A program already imports nearly 400,000 workers per year; the H-2A expansion could add 30,000 to 80,000 more in its first year alone.

Where Enforcement Happens, Teens Get Hired

The most important finding in the teen employment story has received the least attention. Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that in regions most affected by immigration enforcement, employers are hiring local teens to fill open positions. The implication is clear: where unauthorized workers leave the labor market, American teenagers step in.

Sections 409, 410, and 411 would do the opposite – dramatically escalating foreign worker competition in teen job markets at precisely the moment when enforcement is finally opening doors for American youth. NPR reports that a growing share of 18- and 19-year-olds are now neither employed nor enrolled in school, and research consistently shows that early work experience produces better employment outcomes for years afterward. When summer jobs disappear, those long-term benefits disappear with them.

The Path Forward

If Congress wants to nearly triple the H-2B cap, create an uncapped visa for carnival workers, or open H-2A to year-round animal agriculture, it can do so through the regular legislative process – with hearings, debate, and a standalone vote. The data does not support expanding foreign worker programs into seasonal labor markets. It supports the opposite: when the foreign labor supply tightens, American teenagers get hired. Congress should not be tripling the pipeline. It should be protecting the workers who are finally getting a chance.