Trump administration suspends additional seasonal worker visas due to economic downturn
From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
The Trump administration said Thursday that it is suspending the issuing of further H-2B seasonal guest worker visas due to the economic downturned sparked by the coronavirus crisis.
"To clear up various misreporting -- DHS’s [Department of Homeland Security's] rule on the H-2B cap is on hold pending review due to present economic circumstances,” the agency said on Twitter. “No additional H-2B visas will be released until further notice.”
The number of H-2B visas, which give temporary legal status to non-agricultural seasonal workers in areas such as landscaping and service-industry jobs in restaurants and hotels, is capped at 66,000 a year by Congress. But Congress has given DHS and the Labor Department the authority to raise that cap by 64,000 visas a year.
DHS announced at the beginning of last month that it would raise the cap by 35,000 -- significantly lower than the full cap, but higher than the 30,000 the administration raised it by in 2018. The increase would be accompanied by reforms to the system to root out abuse and fraud.
Immigration hawks have long opposed increases in H-2B visas, while business groups have said they are essential in a tight labor market. On the Hill, raising the cap has seen both bipartisan support and opposition. Groups of Republicans and Democrats have written to the administration on both sides of the issue.
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