Spending Bill To Quadruple H-2B Visas In 2016
Low-skilled Americans
Texas Union Leader Challenge H-2B Visas
Texas AFL-CIO union leader, Michael Cunningham, challenged H-2B visa applications, saying that there are Americans who can fill these positions. H-2B visas are temporary work permits given to low-skilled foreign workers to fill seasonal positions. They're typically used by landscapers, hoteliers, and resort areas.
NumbersUSA Tells Congress Not To Increase Foreign Worker Programs
This week, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) in the House and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) in the Senate introduced legislation to increase the number of H-2B workers accepted in the U.S. each year. NumbersUSA has sent a scoring alert to Members of Congress warning them against increasing the number of foreign workers admitted to the U.S. each year.
Data Shows More 'Educated' Immigrants, Fewer Skilled U.S. Residents
In an article published on National Review’s website on September 29, Reihan Salam noted the transformation brought about by post-1965 immigration, and he understands why much attention has been paid to the changing demographics of the country. But his argument is that the “far more consequential effect of the post-1965 wave has been the increase in the number of U.S. residents with low levels of literacy and numeracy (i.e.
Study on Construction Workers Ignores Unemployed Americans
John Burns Real Estate Consulting, a home-building analysis firm, blamed, in part, the “increasingly restrictive immigration policies” since 2007 on what the believe is a shortage of workers in the construction industry. It raises two questions. First, what immigration restrictions, and second, have they looked at unemployment data recently?
Court Cases Could Undo Pres. Obama's Executive Actions on Immigration
While Congress was unable to stop President Obama's executive actions on immigration, a series of court cases that are making their way through the system may be able to do just that. Currently, there are court cases dealing with a wide array of issues, including amnesty and work permits for millions of illegal aliens to programs that hurt both low and high-skill American workers.
Big Biz: US needs more less-skilled workers
Eleven CEO's from some the nation's largest companies have signed on to a new letter to Congress urging passage of immigration reform that includes massive increases in low-skilled foreign workers.
Audit Shows Obama Administration Going Easy on Businesses that Hire Illegal Workers
Pres. Obama has made cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers a focal point of his immigration reform plan, but a new audit shows that the administration is anything but tough on unscrupulous employers. According to the audit by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, administration officials have cut fines by an average of 40%.
POLL: Few Voters Agree With Biz Lobby & Pres. Obama on more immigrant workers
Only one out of five voters agrees with Pres. Obama's and the business lobbies' central claim that passing the Senate bill to add millions more foreign workers to the labor market would "create economic growth which would provide more jobs for unemployed Americans." Instead, nearly 70% of voters chose the answer that "adding more immigrant workers would increase job competition for unemployed Americans, making it harder for them to find jobs."
700,000 Guest-Worker Visas Issued in 2012
A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies has found that the United States issued nearly 700,000 guest-worker visas in 2012. This weekend, labor and business groups agreed on terms that would create a new low-skill, guest-worker program, creating up to 200,000 new temporary work visas each year. Business groups claim the U.S. doesn't issue enough guest-worker visas, specifically low-skill worker visas.
Immigration Subcommittee Debates the Merits of the H-2A Visa Program
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement hosted a hearing Wednesday morning titled “The H-2A Visa Program: Meeting the Growing Needs of American Agriculture?” While it is very clear that the H-2A program needs to be reformed and made more user friendly, it's apparent that some Members of Congress are eager to jump on the AgJOBS Amnesty bandwagon to “legalize” the “undocumented” workers and expect them to stay in agriculture instead of migrating over to other industries like construction.
Immigration Angle Missing from Today's Economic News
According to Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, immigration policy reduces American employment opportunities and lowers existing workers' wages. Following the April jobs report, major newspapers assured us that the economy is improving. The devil, however, is in the details.
Media To Legal Farm Workers: We're Just Not That Into You
U.S. citizens comprise 25 percent of all domestic crop laborers. Another 21 percent are legal immigrants. Together, they make up nearly half of the agricultural workers that provide the nation's food supply. Yet the media is conspicuously silent on these legal farm workers, while devoting copious copy to the interests of their illegal competitors and their employers.
15 More Countries Eligibile for Temporary Guest Worker Visas
Fifteen countries have been added to the list of countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas, including Barbados, Estonia, Fiji, Hungary, Kiribati, Latvia, Macedonia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The H-2 visa classes are temporary work permits offered to foreign workers willing to work in agriculture, tourism and the hospitality industries when a worker shortage is anticipated.
Immigration reform critical to state's farms
Now that health care reform is on the books, it's time for Congress to get on with immigration reform, especially as it relates to the needs of agriculture.
Secretary Napolitano Designates 11 New Countries as Eligible for H-2a and H-2b Nonimmigrant Visa Programs
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano this week designated 11 new countries as eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs, which allow U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary or seasonal jobs for which U.S. workers are not available.http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1264197311110.shtm
Libertarians: Can You Help CATO Come To Its Senses (not enough high school dropouts in U.S.?)
CATO Institute's Dan Griswold suggests that the U.S. faces a crisis in filling lower skilled jobs because we aren't producing as many high school dropouts as in the past. Perhaps somebody could explain to him that we have around 2 million native-born high school dropouts who are actively looking for a job and can't find one -- and another 7 million who have dropped out of the job market altogether.
Guest worker program for agriculture sought
Unemployment is soaring. Yet advocates and Congressional leaders want a guest worker program that would legalize tens of thousands of undocumented agriculture workers.
Proponents say they want a legal work force to pick the nation's tomatoes, peppers and lettuce. Opponents call it amnesty for illegal workers at a time Americans are losing their jobs.
Guest Worker Program Proposed in Utah
Utah business leaders with the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce proposed a plan to the state legislature that would allow undocumented immigrants to work in the state for two years and receive health insurance funded by a special guest worker tax. the plan addresses concerns made by local businesses who are concerned about keeping their workforces intact while abiding by state and federal laws.
Sun Valley could feel foreign worker shortage
"Officials with Sun Valley Co. in central Idaho say they will hire fewer ski instructors and other workers from foreign countries this season because a nationwide visa program has reached its limit.
Matt Parke, Sun Valley Co. personnel manager, said the 66,000 national limit for H2-B visas was reached July 29, the earliest it has been met since the program started in 1990.
"It will definitely affect us," Parke told the Idaho Mountain Express. "We sometimes hire 200-plus H2-B employees, and with extensions we'll be about half that...."
More Agricultural Entities Using H-2A Guestworker Program
Stepped-up federal immigration enforcement efforts are causing farmers and growers to use the H-2A guestworker program more, the Seattle Times reports. The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to hire foreign workers if the state work force agency certifies no citizens or legal immigrants are available to do the work. Unscrupulous farmers and growers that had being using illegal alien labor now fear getting caught in the enforcement web, so they are turning to the legal alternative that had been there for them all along.
