Home > Hot Topics > Foreign Worker Timeout > H-2B Low-Skill Visas

H-2B Low-Skill Visas

 

H-2B Cap Exemption Introduced in Senate

Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 10:29 AM EDT

Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Arlen Specter
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.

Teen/Young Adult Joblessness Worsening

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 5:13 PM EDT

With foreign workers filling jobs traditionally held by teenagers and young adults, the Washington Post reports today that the youth jobless rate for June was at its highest level in the last 60 years, according to a new study.

H-2B Low-Skill, Nonimmigrant Visas

Updated Monday, May 19, 2008, 3:48 PM EDT

tulip farm
H-2B visas are issued to temporary, or seasonal, low-skill workers. The annual cap on H-2B visas is 66,000. This cap was hit in the first quarter of FY 2004 and 2005.

More Agricultural Entities Using H-2A Guestworker Program

Monday, July 21, 2008, 12:32 PM EDT

Stepped-up federal immigration enforcement efforts are causing farmers and growers to use the H-2A guestworker program more, the Seattle Times reports.

Harry Reid Pulls Ag Amnesty from Iraq Supplemental

Updated Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 3:15 PM EDT

ag worker
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.

In the News

Italy: Berlusconi urges US immigration model

In the News - Monday, May 25, 2009

"Italy's conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has sought to deflect criticism of Italy's harsh immigration policies by stressing potential migrants are welcome in his country. In an interview posted to the US television network CNN's website on Monday, he said immigrants who qualified to come to Italy should be allowed to work and create a better life for themselves and their families.

"We welcome those (immigrants) who have the right to come here. This is what the United States and all normal countries do," Berlusconi told CNN.

"We are absolutely open to those who come to our country with the wish to integrate and to work... we keep an open door to all who are eligible to come to work in Italy or request asylum," Berlusconi said."

AKI, 25 May 2009

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.0.3354551966

Personal pain from the front lines of immigration reform battle

In the News - Wednesday, May 13, 2009

"Margaret Heintz sputtered in frustration.

"There's nothing we can do," the Marshalltown, Iowa, woman said to her daughter, Mona Kilborn, when they talked about their shared point of aggravation -- illegal immigrants.

"Mom, you can do something," Kilborn said. "You can write your congressman. I'll even get you the address."

So in September 2007, the 90-year-old Heintz put pen to paper for her first letter to a politician. Two weeks later, she died at the hands of an illegal immigrant.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Kilborn said. "This one issue, it's changed our lives forever....""

Bekah Porter, (Dubuque, IA) Telegraph Herald, 13 May 2009

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=243128

Immigration raid leaves damaging mark on Postville, Iowa

In the News Quoted - Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"Since the landmark raid, an economic squeeze has destroyed several businesses. Postville's population has shrunk by nearly half, to about 1,800 residents, and townsfolk say the resulting anxiety -- felt from the deli to the schoolyard -- has been relentless.

"It's like you're in an oven and there's no place to go and there's no timer to get you out," said former Mayor Robert Penrod, who, overwhelmed, resigned earlier this year....

Roy Beck, head of the Washington-based NumbersUSA group that advocates for reducing immigration, argued that Postville invited its problems by relying so heavily on a plant many suspected was violating labor and immigration laws.

"The situation should have never gotten to that point," he said. "If you don't enforce the laws steadily, then when you suddenly enforce them, there is more collateral damage....""

Antonio Olivo, LA Times, 12 May 2009

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-postville-iowa12-2009may12,0,6761812.story

Women, minorities fear being left out of stimulus projects

In the News - Thursday, March 26, 2009

"Nonunion contractors and minority and female workers fear that they could miss out on major construction projects funded by the economic stimulus package because President Barack Obama has issued a directive on contracting that favors union labor.

An executive order that Obama signed in February "encourage(s) executive agencies to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements" on federal construction projects of $25 million or more...."

Tony Pugh, McClatchy Newspapers, March 26, 2009

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/328/story/64886.html

Bush considering easing rules on foreign farm workers

In the News - Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Farmers would have an easier and cheaper time securing foreign guest workers under pending Bush administration rules.

The controversial changes to the so-called H-2A guest-worker program could cut wages and speed worker recruitment. They also would relax requirements for providing foreign workers with housing and transportation.

"The Department of Labor is going to weaken oversight and enforcement," Bruce Goldstein, the executive director of the Farmworker Justice Fund, charged Wednesday.

Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers, December 10, 2008

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/257/story/57549.html

Sun Valley could feel foreign worker shortage

In the News - Friday, August 22, 2008

"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...."

AP, 22 August 2008

http://www.2news.tv/news/27291244.html

Summer employers brace for shortage of foreign workers

In the News - Thursday, May 8, 2008

"Employers around the country who thrive on seasonal business are preparing to lose thousands of foreign workers they've hired in past summers to work in restaurants, hotels, landscaping and other industries. New visa controls are cutting the number of temporary foreign workers eligible to return to the country, so employers are scouring job fairs for replacements, lobbying Congress for help and bracing for staff shortages they say will make business tough...."

Eric Tucker, Associated Press, May 5, 2008

Download Publication Web Friendly Version http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/careers/bal-seasonal0505,0,5947823.story?track=rss