Department of Homeland Security outlines H-2B Cap supplement initiative

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced efforts to issue a regulation making an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for fiscal year (FY) 2023.

The effort is focused on providing a supplemented number of visas to employers in consultation with the Department of Labor (DOL). The figure is on top of the 66,000 H-2B visas normally available each fiscal year.

“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. “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. 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.”

Per DHS, the supplemental visa endeavor includes an allocation of 20,000 visas to workers from Haiti and the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The action is consistent with the joint commitment President Biden and Mexico President López Obrador made in July to collaborate to broaden opportunities for seasonal and circular labor and ensure migration is a choice and not a necessity.