Immigration News: April, 2004 - Volume #11

Labor: H-1B, H-2B, L-1

There is an annual limit of 65,000 H-1B visas (those issued to foreigners on behalf of universities and nonprofit organizations are exempt), and it was reached in February 2004; no more H-1B visas will be available to private employers until October 1, 2004. In 1998 and 1999, US employers seeking H-1B workers had to pay a $500 per worker fee; between 2000 and 2003, the fee was $1,000. The $328 million raised by these employer fees provided scholarships and grants for training US workers in technology occupations. The fee expired October 1, 2003 when the annual ceiling dropped from 195,000 to 65,000, and President Bush proposed ending the training grant program.

H-2B. There is an annual limit of 66,000 H-2B visas that can be issued to US employers who want temporary foreign workers to fill temporary nonfarm US jobs. This annual limit was reached in February 2004 for the first time since 1990, and the Save the Summer Act of 2004 (S.2252) was one of three bills introduced to raise the annual limit by 40,000 a year for 2004 only. The Summer Operations and Services Relief and Reform Act would exclude from the ceiling H-2Bs returning from the last two seasons. The third bill would allow employers who used H-2B workers in 2003 to receive the same number in 2004- regardless of the overall cap.

Foreigners admitted with H-2B visas fill jobs in seasonal tourism and gardening and are also camp counselors, bellhops, casino workers, shellfish shuckers and treeplanters. US employers seeking H-2B workers must have their need for foreign workers certified by DOL, and then attach the certification to a petition to DHS, which allows US consulates abroad to issue H-2B visas. The visa issuance process normally takes three months, and with many jobs starting in June, employers in April-May 2004 were asking for emergency legislation to make more H-2B visas available.

US employers cannot begin their search for US workers until 120 days before their need date, so many summer 2004 jobs could not be advertised until February-March, after the cap was reached. The Associated Landscape Contractors of America asserted that without H-2Bs, "we will not have the workers needed to complete landscaping contacts this spring, summer and fall."

L-1. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), chair of the House International Relations committee, held a hearing on foreign workers with L-1 visas displacing US workers. wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/fullhear.htm

The AP reported in March 2004 that the number of Mexican-born workers in the US rose from four million to six million between 1996 and 2002, and that Mexican-born workers are far more likely to die of workplace injuries than US workers. Mexican-born workers are about one in 24 workers in the United States, but account for one in 14 workplace deaths, many in agriculture, construction and meatpacking.

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