Number of Seasonal Workers Expected to Rise Further in the U.S.

The Trump administration is allegedly planning to raise the number of non-agricultural, seasonal workers allowed to enter the U.S. according to a Wall Street Journal media report out in late February. The move will likely please the business community, with many owners and managers struggling to find staff during tourism season or in seasonal industries like landscaping, forestry or fish processing.

The plan reportedly involves raising the number of workers in the H2-B category by 45,000 to 111,000 in 2020, which would see the number approaching the absolute cap of 130,000 workers set by Congress. In 2019, the number of H2-B visas given out already rose to almost 100,000, up from around 70,000 in 2014.

Half of the new visas would be available immediately after the announcement, according to the Wall Street Journal. The rest would be available starting June 1, in line with the even split of H2-B visas between summer and winter work seasons. In the past, demand for visas was much higher than supply, with 100,000 applications received for summer season alone in 2019. As the WSJ pointed out, Trump resorts and golf clubs also relied on the program.