U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it will supplement the H-2B cap with almost 65,000 additional visas for fiscal 2023 is about helping the nation's businesses.
In an Oct. 12 news release, DHS announced it would almost double the total number of H-2B visas made available to employers to temporary nonagricultural workers from other countries.
"The Department of Homeland Security is moving with unprecedented speed to meet the needs of American businesses," Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the news release. "At a time of record job growth, this full year allocation at the very outset of the fiscal year will ensure that businesses can plan for their peak season labor needs."
Workers brought in under the H-2B program will be protected from employers who might exploit them, Mayorkas said in the release.
"We also will bolster worker protections to safeguard the integrity of the program from unscrupulous employers who would seek to exploit the workers by paying substandard wages and maintaining unsafe work conditions," he added, according to the release.
DHS decided to increase the number of visas in fiscal 2023 after consulting with the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the news release. The two departments also collaborated to create a new White House-convened Worker Protection Taskforce. The taskforce is expected to focus threats to the H-2B program integrity, address H-2B workers' vulnerabilities and make sure U.S. businesses don't use the program to avoid hiring U.S. workers.
