Dear H-2B Clients and Friends:
We know many of you are still reeling from the news last Friday that U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (CIS) reached the 66,000 annual H-2B visa cap for Fiscal Year 2015, effectively shutting down access to visas for any employer whose visa petition application had not been received at CIS prior to March 27, 2015. We know many of you have contacted your Senators and Representative in the wake of this news and we appreciate your efforts. I want to take a moment to update you on some of the current events which we believe are of interest to the H-2B employer community during this crisis situation. First, we want to share the excellent and timely April 7, 2015 editorial from The Wall Street Journal, entitled "Obama's Visa Double Game," discussing the H-2B program and calling on the Administration to live up to the rhetoric that its immigration policies are intended to help business owners. If you do not have a Wall Street Journal online subscription, you can also Google the title, "Obama's Visa Double Game," to view the article. We encourage H-2B employers to not only read the article but to also post comments on the website in support of its message.
Second, we want to remind you again of the upcoming H-2B Fly-In on Wednesday, April 15th, in Washington, DC. Congress returns from Easter recess on Monday, April 13th, and we need to make sure one of its first orders of business is to fix the H-2B program by passing legislation which, at a minimum, exempts from the H-2B visa cap H-2B workers who've had a visa in the previous 3 years. We anticipate a bill will be introduced shortly after the Fly-In and we need to encourage as many members of Congress as possible to be co-sponsors of that bill. Face-to-face meetings with Congressional staff is one of the most effective ways to make your voice heard. We have no time to lose! If you plan on attending the Fly-In please let us know by sending an email to DC-RSVP@maslabor.com.
Finally, we also want to remind you of another important H-2B event occurring in Washington, DC on April 14th, the day before the Fly-In. This is when the Small and Seasonal Business Legal Center, also known as SSBLC or the H-2B Legal Center, will convene its first senior level strategy meeting. For more information on SSBLC membership and current initiatives to save the H-2B program, please see the website at SSBLC.org and consider supporting our start-up by becoming a contributing member.
We will continue to keep you posted on additional news briefs, legal updates, and other upcoming events. In the meantime, keep up the fight! Libby Whitley |
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