“You can not find anyone who is willing to do manual labor anymore,” Hawkins said. “Every once in a while you are lucky enough to find an American and then you need to hold on to them no matter what.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced in May that a nationwide cap of 33,000 H-2B workers for the first half of the fiscal year had been reached.

For the past three years, Congress has voted to allow returning workers to be exempt from the cap, according to PLANET, the Professional Landcare Network.

Hawkins said the company has spent many years working with and training its H-2B employees, not to mention thousands of dollars spent in classes and certifications for them.

“Now, for the government to not let them re-enter the country is devastating,” Hawkins said.

Of about 20 people who work in the field for Hawkins Landscaping, roughly 15 are on the H-2B program for 2007.

“Limiting the amount of H-2B workers allowed in the country is just causing more of the workers to try and come illegally, then we cannot hire them without the proper papers,” Hawkins said. “So then you have this abundance of illegal workers who will end up working for someone (under the table) not paying taxes and not contributing to this country. What good does that do for the U.S. or the reputable companies that H-2B was designed for?”

Source: Frederick (Md.) News-Post