Visa Lawyer Blog
Recently the Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing on the H-2B seasonal worker visa program.
As I have previously reported, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005 (SOS Act) created a cap exemption for “returning workers,” defined as those workers who were counted against the 66,000 annual H-2B cap during any one of the three fiscal years preceding the fiscal year of the requested employment start date. The returning worker provisions of the SOS Act, which originally expired on September 30, 2006, were reauthorized by Congress for one additional year, through Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, which ended on September 30, 2007. This provision was never extended resulting is major hardship to employers in the Hospitality and Constructions industries as well as other employers.
We link to a testimony of R. D. Musser, III President of the famous Grand Hotel explaining the impact of the H2B crisis on his Hotel and the industry. He calls for immediate reform.
Read his testimony here Download file