According to the Washington Times, Congressional Republicans are working with the pro-foreign worker business lobby to make it even more difficult for less-educated and lower-skilled Americans to find work. I urge you not to increase H-2B visas during the lame duck and to oppose a provision that would lift the per-country caps for employment-based green cards.
Staff members from four Republican Members of Congress have signed a formal memorandum of understanding to double the number the number of H-2B visas issued to foreign workers, from 66,000 to 132,000 per year.
While resorts and fisheries tend to receive most of the attention, landscapers receive the largest share of H-2B visas, accounting for at least half of the 66,000 visas issued each year. These employers claim that they can’t find American workers to do these jobs, but 66% of landscapers are native-born, dispelling the myth that Americans won’t do these jobs. What is clear is that Americans will work these jobs for fair wages.
I am worried that the anti-American worker lobby, knowing that there may not be the will to risk a partial government shutdown over the issue, will try to use the upcoming DHS appropriations bill to force an increase in H-2B numbers. A similar tactic was used to force H-2B-increasing language into the July DHS spending bill.
Furthermore, there is bipartisan support to include H.R. 392 in the upcoming spending bill that would lift the per-country caps for employment-based green cards. I’m worried that this provision may lead to a future increase in the number of employment-based green cards.
I hope you will do all you can to support less-educated and lower-skilled American workers by opposing all efforts to increase H-2B visa numbers and to oppose the inclusion of H.R. 392 in the spending bill.
Phone me if you would like to talk about this,
Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA
