Goodlatte Leads Letter to DHS to Ensure H-2B Program Works for American Employers Trying to Play by the Rules

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today sent a letter signed by 36 other Members of Congress to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson asking that the Obama Administration’s new regulations for the H-2B seasonal guestworker program be user-friendly for the thousands of businesses that rely on the program and protect American workers. The H-2B guestworker program is used by American employers to hire foreign workers for temporary and seasonal work, such as forestry, seafood processing, and other industries. Following a federal district court ruling on March 4, 2015 that the Department of Labor (DOL) lacks authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to issue regulations for the H-2B program, DHS and DOL announced that they will issue joint interim final rules by April 30, 2015 governing the H-2B program. The court allowed DOL to continue processing H-2B applications for a period of time before the interim final rule is issued. In the letter to Secretary Johnson, Chairman Goodlatte and the other signatories argue that the best way to make the H-2B program workable for American employers is to remove DOL from its heavy involvement with the program. They note that “Congress has made it clear that the Department of Labor has no authority to issue rules with respect to the H-2B program,” and that DHS “has sole statutory authority over the H-2B program.” By eliminating both redundant employer filings and the incessant litigation that arise from DOL’s unauthorized insistence on carving out a role in the program, the Members of Congress state that DHS could move forward with a strong and vital program that helps many small and seasonal businesses – which are trying to play by the rules – survive and to thrive. To read the letter, click here.