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IW ACTION ALERT - H-2B in omnibus
Story Date: 12/18/2015
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Source: IMMIGRATION WORKS, 12/17/15
Dear friends,
The FY16 omnibus spending bill includes important language reauthorizing and improving the H-2B program.
NumbersUSA is campaigning against it.
Your member of Congress should hear the facts.
All best, Tamar
Tamar Jacoby
President
ImmigrationWorks USA
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H-2B RETURNING WORKER PROVISION IN THE OMNIBUS
The H-2B program is a program that allows U.S. employers to recruit foreign workers when there are not sufficient American workers to fill job vacancies for temporary and seasonal positions. Such vacancies often occur in industries such as seafood processing, forestry, and others. Employers seeking to use the H-2B program are the ones who are trying to play by the rules and hire legal workers. Unfortunately, these employers must compete in a market where far too often their competitors are all too willing to hire undocumented workers at lower rates.
Many small and seasonal businesses rely on the H-2B program to supplement their U.S. workforce. In fact, without this program, many would be forced to shut their doors or curtail their seasons. That would imperil the jobs of all their American workers.
In 2015, the demand for H-2B workers exceeded the supply and the annual H-2B cap of 66,000 was hit. This left many employers short-staffed. In addition, many H-2B employers ask the same individuals to return to work for them each year, and when the cap was hit, some of these employers lost H-2B employees they have relied on for years. Demand is expected to exceed the cap yet again in 2016, and predictions are that the situation will be even worse in 2016.
Given the current and projected H-2B worker shortage, the omnibus contains a provision that Congress also passed a number of years ago, commonly referred to as the "returning worker" exemption. Rather than raising the cap for H-2B workers, this provision focuses on the workers that employers are most dependent upon – those who are so reliable that they are brought back year after year. The provision simply provides that if an H-2B worker has been counted against the cap in one of the three prior years, that worker can return to work in the H-2B program in the current year without being counted against this year's cap. This provision is a narrow, targeted solution to the workforce crisis faced by many of our small and seasonal businesses.
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CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Please call your representative and two senators and express support for H-2B provisions in the omnibus spending bill and if they have been supportive of the H-2B program, please thank them for working with their colleagues to address the H-2B program. You can reach your member of Congress and two senators through the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121. Once connected to the office, please ask to speak to the staff person who handles H-2B issues.
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