Labrador Praises Administration for Quick Action to Prevent Seasonal Labor Crisis

Press Release

A looming labor shortage in seasonal industries has been averted after the Obama Administration agreed to resume processing applications for guest workers while a dispute continues in federal court.

The trouble began March 4, when a U.S. District judge in Florida found the U.S. Department of Labor was overstepping its regulatory authority in processing H-2B visa applications for temporary non-agricultural workers. On March 5, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services halted processing H-2B applications.

The administration's decision came after a phone conversation Thursday between Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez.On Monday, Labrador wrote Rodriguez a follow-up letter asking USCIS to process applications as soon as possible. After Labrador's phone call and several bipartisan appeals, the departments of Homeland Security, Labor and Justice filed on Monday an unopposed motion to temporarily block the court's order so applications can be processed before an interim rule is issued.

"Employers in Idaho and across the country would suffer irreparable harm if they can't hire the seasonal labor they need," Labrador said. "I urged Director Rodriguez to find a way to avert a crisis and am pleased the administration acted swiftly to revive the applicationprocess."

The seasonal visas are issued when employers are unable to fill jobs domestically, with USCIS allowing 66,000 new petitions annually. In Idaho, about 1,000 H-2B workers plant trees for the forestry industry. The seasonal workers also are important to thelandscaping, tourism and construction industries.

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