Dear Speaker Johnson and Minority Leader Jeffries:
The H-2B Workforce Coalition is extremely disappointed that a bipartisan H-2B amendment added to the FY 2025 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill was removed prior to floor consideration. This bipartisan provision, adopted by voice vote during committee markup, would have
maintained the status quo from the previous two years, expedited the process to access the supplemental visas, and provided much needed certainty for seasonal businesses.
This H-2B provision was removed from the bill without explanation. While we appreciate that the bill provides discretionary authority to allocate supplemental H-2B visas, the stripped amendment would have refined the bill to bring much needed predictability to the H-2B process. By removing the
amendment from the legislation, seasonal businesses will once again be subject to the uncertainty about if and when the Department of Homeland Security will provide much needed H-2B cap relief.
In a strong economy with low unemployment, the H-2B program’s congressionally mandated cap of 66,000 visas is woefully inadequate to meet the seasonal needs of many small businesses. The supplemental visas authorized by Congress and made available by the Department of Homeland
Security under the past two Administrations have been a lifeline for small and seasonal businesses when they are unable to fill temporary positions with U.S. workers.
For FY 2024, the 33,000 first half cap was met on October 11, 2023, and the 33,000 second half cap was met on March 7, 2024. The returning worker supplemental visa cap for the first half of the fiscal year was reached on January 9 and the cap on supplemental visas for the second half of the year was reached on April 17. Without this cap relief, seasonal employers would have had to scale back contracts, postpone equipment and supply purchases, layoff American workers and in some cases shut their doors entirely.
The H-2B program is essential to employers who cannot find local temporary workers to fill jobs in seafood processing, horse training, hospitality and amusement parks, forestry, landscaping, circuses, carnivals, food concessionaires, swimming pool maintenance, golf courses, stone quarries and other seasonal industries. Most of these seasonal businesses need H-2B workers to supplement their American workforce.
The H-2B program relies on well-vetted returning workers who come to the U.S. for seasonal employment and then they return home. These workers are not immigrants. Businesses cannot hire H-2B workers unless the U.S. Department of Labor certifies that the company is unable to find
American workers to fill their job openings and that the employment of foreign nationals will not adversely impact the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. They provide an opportunity for U.S. businesses to operate at a greater capacity, retain their full-time workers and contribute to their local economies. Seasonal workers help support many upstream and downstream jobs. Every H-2B worker is estimated to create and sustain 4.64 American jobs.
The fate of seasonal businesses and their domestic workforce should not be dependent upon a lottery. Nor should it be unpredictable and prevent company growth and U.S. workforce expansion. The language that was removed from the FY 2025 Department of Homeland Security
appropriations bill would have provided much needed predictability for small and seasonal businesses, which would allow them to continue to contribute to the U.S. economy, grow their domestic workforce and serve their local communities.
We hope to work with you to restore this vital provision as the bill moves further through the legislative process.