{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/collins-king-announce-more-than-64000-additional-h-2b-visas-to-be-issued", "Collins, King Announce More Than 64,000 Additional H-2B Visas to be Issued", "2023-11-08", "2023", "2023-11", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are expected to make an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 24), on top of the congressionally mandated 66,000 H-2B visas that are available each fiscal year.\n\n\u201cThese additional H-2B visas are a welcome relief for small businesses throughout Maine that continue to face a shortage of employees,\u201d said Senators Collins and King. \u201cThese visas are a lifeline for our state\u2019s economy, helping businesses meet the increasing demand for their products and services.\u201d\n\nThe FY 24 H-2B supplemental allocation is expected to include 20,000 visas for workers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. In addition to the 20,000 country-specific allocation, 44,716 supplemental visas would be available to returning workers who received an H-2B visa, or were otherwise granted H-2B status, during one of the last three fiscal years.\n\nSenators Collins and King have consistently pushed DHS and DOL to increase the availability of H-2B visas, and they have worked to ensure that the H-2B visa program is efficient and effective. Last year, they successfully urged the agencies to release the maximum number of H-2B visas \u2013 marking the first time that the Departments issued a single rule making available H-2B supplemental visas for several allocations throughout the entire fiscal year.\n\nIn June 2023, Senators Collins and King sent a letter sent to DOL Acting Secretary Julie Su requesting an explanation for the extreme delays affecting the processing of labor certifications for H-2B visa applications.\n\nThe DHS appropriations bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 27, 2023, includes report language drafted by Senator Collins directing DHS, in consultation with DOL, to produce a report on \u201cthe economic impact of the H-2B visa program on a state-by-state and national level; the estimated number of H-2B visas that would have been required to meet demand in FY 2023 on a state-by-state and national level; and any adverse economic impact that resulted from the inability to meet such demand.\u201d\n\nAs required by law, employers must first make a concerted effort to hire American workers to fill open positions. H-2B visas fill needs for American small businesses when there are not enough able and willing American workers to fill the temporary, seasonal positions.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/collins-king-announce-more-than-64000-additional-h-2b-visas-to-be-issued"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.49839511141181, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}