Pres. Trump promised with his Monday night Tweet that his Administration would be halting immigration at a time when more than 20 million Americans are filing for unemployment. Unfortunately, the actual Executive Order fell well short of that promise, but there is some room for hope.
In a big win for American workers, especially those who are most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration announced on Thursday that it was putting on hold a plan to issue 35,000 additional H-2B visas this spring to low-skilled foreign workers.
Many occupations often thought to be worked overwhelmingly by immigrants (legal and illegal) are in fact majority native-born, according to a new study from the Center for Immigration Studies. After analyzing government data, CIS found that native-born Americans make up a majority of workers among maids and housekeepers (51%), taxi drivers and chauffeurs (54%), butchers and meat processors (64%), grounds maintenance workers (66%), construction (65%), and janitors (73%).
The Justice Dept. announced yesterday that it settled an agreement with Triple H Services LLC, a North Carolina landscaping company, after a finding that it violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against American workers. This is the second settlement to resolve a lawsuit based on Pres. Trump's 'Buy American, Hire American' executive order.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) requested in a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and DOL Secretary Alex Acosta that both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) provide a written report, explaining in detail their departments' decision to expand the H-2B program.
The Department of Labor (DOL) said in a statement Monday that Metropolitan Concrete Corp., a concrete contractor in Sterling Heights, Michigan, must pay a total of $102,808 -- $73,647 in back wages and $29,161 in civil damages -- to H-2B employees it improperly classified in order to get cheap labor.
Once again, we dodged a last-minute push to include a no-strings amnesty for DACA recipients in the $1.3 trillion spending package that will fund the government through the end of September. But lawmakers couldn't resist a push by business groups to increase the number of H-2B visas issued to foreign workers in 2018.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are attempting to include a provision in the the 2018 omnibus spending bill that would increase the number of H-2B visas. In the Senate, with the support of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a vocal advocate for increasing the number of low-skilled foreign guest workers through the H-2B visa program, is pushing to increase the current cap of 66,000 to 90,000. In the House, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) is seeking to raise the cap to 120,000.
The Midwest resort town of Branson, Mo. is turning to American workers to fill its seasonal jobs rather than rely on the less-predictable H-2B low-skilled guest worker program. A new report from the Washington Post highlights the efforts that resort-town business owners, like those in Branson, are making in advance of the busy summer season.
More than a hundred trade groups have signed a letter addressed to the top Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to include an increase in H-2B visas in the upcoming spending bill. The House passed a short-term spending bill last night, and the Senate is expected to take it up later this week.
The Justice Dept. announced yesterday that it settled an agreement with Crop Production Services, Inc., an agricultural company they filed a lawsuit against in September for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against American workers. This is the first settlement to resolve a lawsuit based on Pres. Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order.
This week the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) upheld the Dept. of Labor’s (DOL) decision to deny DDM Hauler Inc.’s request for seasonal H-2B workers. The DOL claims that the employer did not show proof that they had tried to hire American workers first by placing ads in the local newspapers as required.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has released its analysis of the current USCIS data of the H-2B program for FY17, which ended on Sept. 30. Through their analysis CIS found key discoveries in H-2B areas including: certification numbers, average pay, occupations, and the additional 15,000 visas granted by DHS.
Despite demands from employers, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped accepting applications for H-2B low-skilled guest worker visas on Sept. 15. Congress authorized DHS to issue approximately 70,000 additional H-2B visas above the annual cap of 66,000 earlier this year. At the time, Sec. Kelly announced that he would issue only 15,000, but USCIS had only received 13,534 applications as of Sept. 15.
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows that there is no evidence of a labor shortage to support the recent H-2B visa increase. DHS Secretary John Kelly announced this week that he will use the authority granted by Congress to approve an additional 15,000 H-2B visas over the annual 66,000 cap.
DHS Secretary John Kelly has decided to use the authority granted to him by Congress to provide 15,000 more H-2B visas through the remainder of the fiscal year. In the latest omnibus spending bill, Congress granted authority to DHS to approve around 70,000 additional H-2B visas in FY17 over the 66,000 cap.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has put a hold on Pres. Trump’s nominee for USCIS director, Lee Francis Cissna, until DHS Secretary Kelly increases the number of H-2B visas available for this year. In the latest omnibus spending bill, Congress granted authority to DHS to approve 70,000 additional H-2B visas over the current cap of 66,000.
A group of Senators led by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) sent a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly asking him to use his authority granted by Congress to increase the H-2B visa cap. In May, Congress passed the provision that would allow for another 70,000 visas to be issued in the current fiscal year.
According to DHS spokesman David Lapan, DHS Secretary John Kelly will use the authority granted by Congress to increase the number of H-2B visas beyond the cap limit. Lapan said that the number of additional visas is still being decided but should be set soon.
Yesterday, DHS Secretary John Kelly testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the department’s FY18 budget and addressed concerns over increasing foreign worker visas, sanctuary cities, and Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In his remarks, Secretary Kelly made it clear that the Trump Administration would put American workers first and that DHS will enforce federal immigration laws.
According to DHS spokesman, David Lapan, DHS Secretary John Kelly has not made a decision to increase H-2B visas. This is a slight back track from the DHS Secretary’s initial statement on May 25, where he said he would likely grant the increase.
NumbersUSA recently sent a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly asking him not to use the authorization, given to DHS in the omnibus, to approve more H-2B visas over the current 66,000 visa cap. In May, Congress passed the provision that would allow for another 70,000 visas to be issued in the current fiscal year.
Led by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta urging them not to increase the number of H-2B visas in 2017 despite authorization by Congress in the recently passed omnibus spending bill. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also signed the letter.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor last week shortly before the chamber voted on the omnibus spending bill that more than doubled the number H-2B visas that can be issued for the remainder of the fiscal year. Sen. Cotton, who has introduced legislation that would cut permanent, legal immigration in half, said that Congress ignored the lessons of the 2016 election and is out of touch with the American people.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon critical of the H-2B visa increase that appropriators slipped into the omnibus spending bill. Congressional Leaders and Appropriators released the massive spending bill on Sunday night that will fund the government through the end of September. Congress is expected to vote on the bill later this week.
The House Appropriations Committee released text late Sunday night on a compromise spending bill that would allow for a doubling of the number of H-2B visas for FY2017. Congress has until Friday night to approve a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
More evidence that the guest-worker solution has become part of the domestic hiring problem: Businesses tell Politico that the threat of audits might lead them to recruit American workers.
WITN News
The H-2B visa program is gaining attention from a bipartisan group of senators here on Capitol Hill who believe it will grow jobs.
But those against the bill don't like these jobs not going to America workers.
Chris Chmielenski, Director of Content and Activism for NumbersUSA, says, "It's going to foreign workers and usually at the expense of wages for American workers."
Chmielenski's group advocates for lower immigration levels.
Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) were joined by 30 other senators in sending a letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly asking that he conduct an audit of the H-2B visa program to determine how many of the H-2B visas were unused in the first part of the fiscal year. Then they request that any unused visas be made available to employers.
The Blaze -- Kevin J. Mooney
A case in point that is worth greater attention and scrutiny in the run up to the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries is the H-2B Visa program that was approved as part of the omnibus bill President Barack Obama signed into law in December. The provision concerning foreign guest workers is found on page 701 of the bill.
House Republicans have released text for a short-term spending bill that will likely come to the floor for a vote before federal funding expires at the end of the week. The legislation doesn't expand a provision from last year's spending bill that expands the H-2B low-skilled visa program and doesn't make any significant changes to refugee spending.
Expert witnesses told a Senate panel on Wednesday that there is no evidence to support the idea that H-2B visa workers fill in labor shortages for jobs that employers claim "Americans will not do". The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest held the hearing to discuss how the H-2B visa impacts American job opportunities and wages before a likely debate over the issue in Congress this summer.
Who says the age of bipartisanship is dead? Politico reports that Republican and Democrat lawmakers are coming together on an issue they can agree on: the critical shortage of low-wage workers in the United States.
Margo Walsh, CEO of MaineWorks, has found a way to fill jobs with unemployed Americans instead of relying on foreign workers. Walsh’s firm promotes the hiring of convicted felons into jobs in construction, landscaping, and property maintenance; jobs that many companies would like to fill with H-2B visa holders and other foreign workers.
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a report showing that there is no evidence to support the labor shortage claims made by companies that advocate for an increase in H-2B visas. Key findings in the report show that companies save multiple dollars per hour by hiring lower-paid H-2B workers.
The arguments for special work visas for Irish workers that may come to a vote in the Senate any day are among the most offensive and baseless that I've ever seen. As engorged and harmful as is our current level of foreign workers, can you imagine what would happen if every nationality asked for the same favors that the Irish lobby is asking in this bill?
When NumbersUSA aired the "Lower LEGAL Immigration" ad during two recent GOP national debates, a number of individuals posted comments on Twitter in disbelief that any organization would advocate lower legal immigration levels. Amnesty is the only form of LEGAL immigration that some are willing stand against. However, just because something is legal doesn't make it morally right. For example, if the African Slave trade were still in operation today, I would stand against it.
Dan Rather Reports, with the help of Policy Map, has put together an impressive database where you can search for companies that applied for H-2B foreign worker visas through the year 2009. The H-2B visa allows U.S. employers to hire foreign nationals for non-agricultural labor or service jobs where they can't find enough American workers, but Dan Rather reports that, "many of the companies that petitioned for H-2B guest worker visas were located in counties with particularly high unemployment."
Fifteen countries have been added to the list of countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas, including Barbados, Estonia, Fiji, Hungary, Kiribati, Latvia, Macedonia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The H-2 visa classes are temporary work permits offered to foreign workers willing to work in agriculture, tourism and the hospitality industries when a worker shortage is anticipated.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano this week designated 11 new countries as eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs, which allow U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary or seasonal jobs for which U.S. workers are not available.http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1264197311110.shtm
Latest data reveal 1.6 million American young adults (18-29) with only a high school degree who are looking for a job but can't find one. Yet, Sens. Mikulski and Specter have introduced a bill to double or triple the visas for less-educated foreign workers over the next three years. And 24 Senators have already co-sponsored the bill!
A bipartisan group of Senators have introduced S. 388, which would temporarily lift the cap on H-2B visas for the next three years. The legislation was introduced by Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and has 24 cosponsors. H-2B visas are given to seasonal employees in non-agricultural related fields that experience high-peak times such as amusement parks and ski resorts.
"Officials with Sun Valley Co. in central Idaho say they will hire fewer ski instructors and other workers from foreign countries this season because a nationwide visa program has reached its limit.
Matt Parke, Sun Valley Co. personnel manager, said the 66,000 national limit for H2-B visas was reached July 29, the earliest it has been met since the program started in 1990.
"It will definitely affect us," Parke told the Idaho Mountain Express. "We sometimes hire 200-plus H2-B employees, and with extensions we'll be about half that...."
In the face of enormous opposition from both sides of the aisle, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opted to drop the agricultural amnesty from the Iraq Supplemental Spending Bill.
Reid decided to drop language, submitted by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Larry Craig, that would have given a path to citizenship for 1.3 million illegal agricultural workers, as well as their families.
