USCIS Should Allow DOL to Certify H-2A and H-2B Recurring Jobs for up to Three Years

David J. BierSummary: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) should allow the Department of Labor (DOL) to certify H-2A and H-2B recurring jobs for up to three years, and DOL should certify those jobs for up to 3 years.H-2A agricultural and H-2B nonagricultural employers almost always need workers to return annually to perform the same job.[1] Employers hire for a season, and they bring back the same H-2 workers seasonally year after year. To employers, these “returning workers” are just existing employees who have taken a seasonal hiatus.[2] Yet USCIS and DOL refuse to recognize this basic business reality, so USCIS only permits DOL to certify H-2 recurring jobs for a single season,[3] and DOL requires re‐​advertising the position every year[4] and has a nonpublic practice of prohibiting advertising the job only to those who commit to return for additional years.[5] This means repeatedly following a process that costs thousands of dollars, often delays H-2 workers ’ entries until after the date of need, and rarely ever turns up any U.S. workers.[6] Such pointless costs incentivize other employers to hire illegally.USCIS and DOL should amend their regulations to allow employers to advertise only to those workers who commit to return each season and certify the recurring job for up to three years. Nothing in the law requires H-2 labor certifications every year. While the employer ’s “need” must be “temporary,” the H-...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 25, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs