U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the respective chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today criticized a Department of Homeland Security decision to release additional H-2B temporary non-agricultural work visas.
“We’ve long expressed concerns that perverse incentives created by the H-2B program encourage lower wages and poor working conditions for American and immigrant guest workers alike. Given that U.S. unemployment remains elevated in many H-2B-reliant industries, this is no time to release additional H-2B visas. We hope that the Biden administration will work with Congress to reform this program to ensure it better serves Americans and guest workers,” Durbin and Grassley said.
The senators’ statement follows a Department of Homeland Security decision to issue an additional 22,000 H-2B visas to foreign guest workers this year. The senators were critical of the similar H-2B visa expansions during the previous administration.
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