Thread: United States proposes streamlining H-2B program

United States proposes streamlining H-2B program
18 August 2008

On 15 August 2008, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a series of proposed rule changes that would streamline procedures for hiring foreign workers under the H-2B program. The United States H-2B program allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary non-agricultural occupations for which US workers can not be found. The maximum validity of an H-2B visa is normally one year.

The proposed rule changes are outlined below:

Reduce the time H-2B workers must wait outside the United States at the end of their visa's validity before they are eligible to re-apply under an H or L class visa from six months to three months

Require employers to give a detailed description of the H-2B employment and outline their use of recruiters to locate H-2B workers

Punish employers and recruiters who require payment from prospective H-2B workers in connection with or as a condition of an offer of H-2B employment

Require an approved "temporary labor certification" in connection with all H-2B applications

To prevent, with limited exception, the change of the employment start date after the grant of the temporary labor certification

Require employers to notify the Department of Homeland Security when H-2B workers fail to show up for work, are terminated, or leave the worksite without notification

Change the definition of "temporary employment" to provide that a job is of a temporary nature when the worker will end in the near, definable future

Eliminate the requirement that employers show "extraordinary circumstances" to be eligible to hire H-2B workers where a one-time need for the workers is longer than one year but shorter than three years

Prohibit the approval of H-2B petitions for nationals of countries that consistently refuse or unreasonably delay repatriation of their citizens

Establish a "land-border exit system" test program, which requires temporary workers admitted through a port of entry participating in the test program to also depart through a participating port and to present designated biographic and/or biometric information upon departure

The rule changes are part of a general attempt to improve visa programs for temporary workers while the debate on US immigration reform continues to stall in Congress.

"These changes are being proposed in further fulfillment of the commitment made by the Administration last August, after the failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, to review and improve temporary worker visa programs using existing authorities," USCIS said in a release.

The rule changes are designed to remove "unnecessary limitations" on employers who utilize the H-2B program as well as protecting the rights of temporary workers. The changes will supplement the current proposed reforms to the H-2B program carried out by the Department of Labor on 22 May 2008.
http://www.workpermit.com/news/2008-08- ... rogram.htm

And just where are all these low skilled folks gonna work at ?

These politicians are hell bent on destroying any chance that American citizens have at making a decent living.

I pray that Americans wake up and toss these scoundrels out of office before it is too late.

Originally Posted by Justonehero

I pray that Americans wake up and toss these scoundrels out of office before it is too late.

SO DO I!

It is time for the Tea Party and also time for the Trials to begin

The streamlined H-2B Program would:

"Establish a "land-order exit system" test program, which requires temporary workers admitted through a port of entry participating in the test program to also depart through a participating port and to present designated biographic and/or biometric information upon departure."

It already has been reported that thousands of ATM-style "Laser Visas" developed in 1998 for use to allow bearers to cross within 25 miles inside California and Texas and remain in the U.S. for 30 days without other supporting documents have been reported "stolen". However, U.S. immigration and State Department officials believe these visas instead have been sold and/or "rented" for use by others. It is also reported that U.S. officials have received no cooperation from the government of Mexico in solving this problem, and that they believe elements within the Mexican federal and local governments themselves are assisting in diverting these visas. Further, U.S. officials believe that Mexican organized crime is now attempting to duplicate the 30-Day Laser Visas, and such duplications, of course, also will be sold on the black market. Ironically, these high-tech visas, WHICH BEAR THE LEGAL VISA HOLDER'S PHOTOGRAPH AND SCANNED FINGERPRINTS, were developed to try to decrease illegal immigration across the Mexican border into California and Texas!

It is inevitable that the same corruption which has been introduced into the "30-Day Laser Visa Program" will prevade that which would allow H-2B Visa workers to enter and exit the United States through a "port of entry" using "designated biographic and/or biometric information upon departure". (for those who bother to "depart"!) Further, it seems apparent that international organized crime eventually is able to duplicate even the most sophisticated of documents.

Related to these is the resolution just published by the 26th Annual Borders Governors' Conference that four U.S. and six Mexican state governors are exploring the idea of public-private parnerships to construct vehicle toll lanes at entry points between the United States and Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff approves this resolution,and state representatives soon will be meeting with federal representatives to facilitate it.

Of course once these and other federal government pre-approved measures go through, any semblance of immigration law enforcement along our borders will be lost. The same measures will be applied to the border with Canada once they begin construction of the NAFTA highway across the United States to unite the Mexican coast with Canada. This will "have" to be done in the interests of "national fair play"!