A bipartisan group led by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is urging the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider its plans to more than double the fees businesses pay for H-2A seasonal agricultural and H-2B non-immigrant work visas.
Employers currently have to pay a $460 petition fee per guest worker when applying for an H-2A or H-2B visa.
The proposed rule would increase this to $1,080 and $1,090 for H2A and H-2B visa petitions.
Employers would also have to pay a new $600 asylum program fee for all petitions to support screening and asylum processing work done by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
On Jan. 4, DHS proposed increasing application fees charged by immigration services for employment-based and other visas as a result of the agency’s staffing shortages, longer processing times and increased asylum claims.
“Access and affordability of seasonal agricultural labor is of paramount importance to the continued success of Maine’s wild blueberry industry,” said Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine.
He said employers already grapple with the high fixed costs of using the program.
“This proposed rule would make the H2-A program’s fixed costs an insurmountable barrier to farmers that may otherwise rely on this program as a solution to our growing agricultural labor crisis,” Venturini said.
King was joined by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V.; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H; James Risch, R-Idaho; Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.; and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.
According to the letter written by the bipartisan group, given the country’s severe labor shortage, temporary visas are critical for helping small businesses across Maine that cannot find local applicants to meet their labor needs.
“In our states and around the country, H-2A and H-2B guest workers give small businesses — such as landscapers, ski resorts, construction, forestry, agriculture and hospitality — the ability to temporarily meet their dire labor demands … the Proposed Rule increases fees substantially, but provides no additional security that businesses will, in fact, be able to staff their workforces,” the senators said. “We urge you to reconsider the implementation of these massive fee increases for programs that are so vital to our respective states and American small businesses. We look forward to continuing to work with you to develop bipartisan, commonsense solutions to better our immigration system and grow our economy.”