Congress Fails to Act on H-2B Relief

Washington, D.C.-The U.S. Senate and House has failed to include a bipartisan amendment in the omnibus spending bill to increase the H-2B temporary guest worker program cap. The H-2B program annually grants 66,000 work visas for employers demonstrating a seasonal need for foreign workers. Lawmakers did vote to provide the high tech industry with a 20,000 workers cap increase, but not for the laboring sector.

Anti-immigrant sentiments and the perception that H-2B guest workers take jobs from American workers apparently kept key Republicans from supporting a cap increase.

?EUR??,,????'??What every American needs to understand is that there has never been, nor will there ever be, an H-2B job that goes to a foreign guest worker at the expense of a U.S. worker,?EUR??,,????'?? said John Meredith, director of legislative relations for the American Nursery & Landscape Association. ?EUR??,,????'??Any qualified U.S. worker that applies for an H-2B job must be hired,?EUR??,,????'?? she added. Ms. Meredith asserted that H-2B reform is the ?EUR??,,????'??most urgent labor concern of all service industries.?EUR??,,????'??