US bill would grant seafood companies access to larger seasonal worker pool through H-2A visa system

A photo of an Alaska seafood operation
Many seafood processors rely on temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal positions, but by law, they can only apply for workers under the capped H-2B visa program | Photo courtesy of Alexandre.ROSA/Shutterstock
6 Min

Legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) would allow seafood companies to hire workers through the uncapped H-2A visa program, greatly increasing the number of seasonal workers they could hire from other countries.

Many seafood processors rely on temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal positions, but by law, they can only apply for workers under the capped H-2B visa program, where they must compete in a lottery system with other industries like tourism, meat processing, landscaping, and construction to get their share of the 66,000 annual visas.

Paul’s Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act would allow ...


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