Expert: Extra H-2B Visas "Not Nearly Enough"

Aishvarya Kavi, New York Times, Mar. 31, 2022

"The Biden administration, responding to an increasing demand for temporary workers, announced on Thursday that it would make an additional 35,000 seasonal worker visas available for American businesses to hire foreign workers ahead of the coming summer months. The visa program being expanded, known as the H-2B visa program, allows American businesses to hire foreign workers for seasonal nonagricultural jobs like mowing lawns, cleaning hotel rooms, staffing amusement parks and waiting tables. Industries like landscaping, hospitality and tourism are particularly reliant on foreign nationals to meet high demand during the busy summer months. ... “Even with these additional visas, there are not nearly enough visas for all of the types of workers that employers want to hire on the H-2B program,” said Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, an immigration lawyer who teaches at Cornell Law School. “But in the short term, at least, this is something the administration can do to help immediately.” "