The Department of Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman, David Joyce and ranking member, Henry Cuellar added language in the FY 24 base text funding bill that would provide for a permanent returning worker exemption with a three-year look back.

The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Membership, Andrew Bray said that "NALP 100% supports H-2B as the number one issue."

 

H-2B allows U.S. employers or agents to bring foreign nationals to the country to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. Employers must file a Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker to be applicable.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, 10,000 visas were made available under H-2B but was limited "to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022, regardless of country of nationality."

Bray explained that this is a complicated process that starts now at step one and won't end until December. He went on to say that the landscape industry utilizes the program more than any other industry at 50% while the next most category, the hotel industry, uses 14% of workers.

According to the NALP, H-2B has, "an antiquated cap of 66,000 established in the early 1990s and must be fixed to meet the demand of the modern U.S. economy." On June 13-14, 2023, NALP is hosting a H-2B Fly-In to Washington, D.C. for a brief and breakfast and a meeting on Capitol Hill.