To: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Donald Trump
Tell Congress to increase the number of H2B visas and that it is a labor issue NOT an immigration...
My small lawn care company in Maryland is in danger of not surviving another season because we can't find local labor even though we offer higher than minimum wage and Congress won't give us our H2B visas either. This legal visa program brings workers who are willing to do the work for 8 months a year and then go home. We want people to understand these are not immigrants - they are seasonal workers who leave once their visa expires and pay income taxes while here.
Why is this important?
I have been personally effected by this issue. We could not handle the work without our H2B workers in 2017 and the company lost half of its revenue, a quarter of its customers and a valuable American exmployee. This year we are in the same position. The following link explains well my experience: http://fox8.com/2018/02/25/local-landscapers-worried-about-having-workers-this-summer/
The issue is complex and involves rules set in place by Congress. At the most the number of foreign seasonal workers would be 120,000 spread all throughout the country. My goal is to teach people that it is a labor issue - NOT an immigration issue. Please tell Congress to allow seasonal businesses to use the H2B visa by increasing the number of visas available to us. Right now we are basically in a lottery system and if we lose (by not getting the visas), we might go out of business...
The issue is complex and involves rules set in place by Congress. At the most the number of foreign seasonal workers would be 120,000 spread all throughout the country. My goal is to teach people that it is a labor issue - NOT an immigration issue. Please tell Congress to allow seasonal businesses to use the H2B visa by increasing the number of visas available to us. Right now we are basically in a lottery system and if we lose (by not getting the visas), we might go out of business...