Washington, D.C. – Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, released the following statement in response to the recent announcement that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL), will make an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. Notably, this comes on top of the congressionally mandated 66,000 H-2B visas that are available each fiscal year.
The H-2B visa program permits employers to temporarily hire noncitizens to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States. The employment must be for a limited period of time, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal, or intermittent need. Employers seeking to hire H-2B workers must take a series of steps to test the U.S. labor market. They must provide certification from the Department of Labor that proves there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work for which they seek a prospective foreign worker, and that employing the H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
Congressman Harris issued the following statement:
“Numerous seasonal businesses in the First District, especially those in the crab processing and tourism industry, rely on the H-2B temporary foreign worker visa program to meet their labor needs. The announcement by the Administration Friday of almost 65,000 additional visas nationwide next year will be much needed help to those businesses. While there is still more work to do, the release of these additional visas is a step in the right direction as we work to find a permanent solution to help our seasonal businesses on the Eastern Shore.”
why do we need this when so many are already here?