Small Business and the Costs of Dithering on Immigration

As the politicians dither and debate about immigration reform, small businesses struggle with uncertainty regarding their workforce and costs.

The February 12 edition of Long Island’s Newsday ran an excellent article titled “East end again on hold over foreign workers.” The story drives home the importance of H-2B visa workers for many businesses, and the problem as Congress and the White House fail to act.

Consider the following points in the article:

• “At Gurney's Inn in Montauk, one of the largest private employers in the Hamptons, general manager Paul Monte is looking to the summer with high anxiety.

 He's got popular cottages, suites and rooms to let. But if he doesn't have enough staff to clean the rooms, Monte can't rent them. He's got a restaurant and a cafe. But if there isn't enough wait staff and cooks, people will have to be turned away.”

• “The serious problem of 2007 has become even worse in 2008, and it is national in scope: For years, an estimated 66,000 to 70,000 people have been allowed into the United States as temporary, nonagricultural workers on a federal ‘H-2B’ visa. In each of the past three years, the number of H-2B visas granted increased substantially, due to a special exemption, rising last year to a high of nearly 130,000.

 But for various reasons -- prime among them the debate over immigration reform -- those formerly allowed to come here under the program, regulated by the U.S. Department of Labor, cannot return unless Congress acts promptly.

 So the hotels, inns, restaurants and landscaping businesses that have relied on those seasonal employees don't know how or where they will find replacements.”

• “The same kind of potential worker shortages are a headache for luxury hotels in Arizona and Colorado, shoreline resorts in New Jersey and Cape Cod, and even a traveling circus in Texas.”

• “Under the H-2B program, workers prescreened by federal officials are allowed into the country to work for up to 10 months in jobs that their employers certify they cannot otherwise fill. An annual cap of 66,000 new workers on H-2B visas was imposed more than a decade ago. But, under an exemption passed by Congress that took effect in May 2005, any worker who had come into the United States under an H-2B visa in any of the three previous fiscal years could return and not count against the cap.

 Congress did not renew the exemption for this year, causing the current dilemma posed by lack of returning seasonal employees. The nonrenewal stemmed from several reasons -- including strong opposition from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which views the H-2B program as a Band-Aid solution to comprehensive immigration reform.”

• “With anxious constituents sending up flares, more than 90 members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, sent a letter to President George W. Bush in late January, imploring him to lift the cap through an executive order. So far, [U.S. Rep. Tim] Bishop said, they have not gotten a response.

 A White House spokesman said Friday that the request would require review by the Department of Homeland Security.

 A House bill to renew the H-2B exemption is stalled in committee, as the time needed to process any additional H-2B visa applications grows short.”

• “Bob Sakaniwa, an associate director with the Washington-based American Immigration Lawyers Association, said Congress would have to take action within the next two to three months to address the coming H-2B worker woes.”

Sticking one’s head in the sand over the economic realities of immigration is not just a problem in theory. It is a very real problem for U.S. businesses and their customers.