Trump Administration Will Add 30K H-2B Visas

The visas will be available to "returning workers" who were granted H-2B status in fiscal years 2016, 2017 or 2018, according to a notice published online by the departments of Homeland Security and Labor.

Former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told lawmakers about the planned expansion in March — the third year in a row the Trump administration has permitted more foreign guest workers to enter the country.

A broad bipartisan coalition of Senate and House members has clamored for more visas through the H-2B program, which allows businesses to hire seasonal, non-agricultural guest workers in sectors such as landscaping, housekeeping and construction. The program offers 66,000 visas annually, an allotment that employers have exhausted in recent years.

President Trump's first DHS secretary, John Kelly, approved a surge of 15,000 visas in 2017, calling it a "one-time increase." Nielsen, however, repeated the expansion the following year.

A temporary rule adding 30,000 visas this year will publish Wednesday in the Federal Register.

To receive the visas, employers must attest that they "are likely to suffer irreparable harm," which the administration describes as "a permanent and severe financial loss."