DHS, Labor to Expand H-2B Visa Program
The federal government will offer nearly twice as many H-2B temporary worker visas next fiscal year as it did this year, according to (莽喝莉莽釵娶勳梯喧勳棗紳).泭
Whats going on: Working with the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Friday that proposed regulation would make another 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for the 2024 Fiscal Year, on top of the 66,000 that Congress requires annually.
- The aim of the expansion is to meet increased seasonal demand across industries and reduce irregular migration, according to .
- The additional visas will include 20,000 allocated to Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti.
- Approximately 45,000 supplemental visas will be made available to temporary workers who were given H-2B visas in the past three fiscal years.
What it is: The H-2B program allows employers to hire people who are not U.S. citizens to do nonagricultural work thats seasonal or otherwise temporary [T]o participate, businesses must first demonstrate to the Labor Department that there are not enough qualified U.S. workers available to meet their staffing needs, and that employing H-2B workers would not make wages or working conditions worse for domestic workers in similar positions, Law360 reports.
Why its important: Demand for H-2B is consistently higher than the number of visas available, said 51勛圖厙 Director of Domestic Policy Julia Bogue. Through our immigration policy blueprint, , the 51勛圖厙 advocates for reforms to the H-2B program to provide longer employment for these temporary workers.
