PAUL RYAN EXPANDS H-2B BLUE-COLLAR OUTSOURCING PROGRAM FOR 2017

Paul Ryan’s new 2017 budget has made provision for the Department of Homeland Security to import at least 20,000 extra foreign blue-collar workers for seasonal jobs in the United States of America.

This new rule by the House Speaker has received strong opposition by pro-American groups, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) as it means that companies would no longer be required to recruit, train, and pay marginalized Americans.

According to FAIR’s Robert Law, “Increasing the number of low skilled foreign workers through a massive government funding bill is Washington at its worst. This is a clear betrayal of blue collar Americans who were hit the hardest by the Obama economy. Even after Trump’s victory, Congress is more interested in rewarding the business lobby’s thirst for cheap workers than getting their unemployed constituents back in the work force.”

This new rule will encourage business groups to do away with rising pressure for wage increases with just about 18 months to the mid-term elections when voters will be able to measure the success of President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” policies.

The H-2B language was hidden in the draft 2017 supplemental budget which will be facing House and Senate votes this week.

The H-2B language in the 2017 budget stipulates that the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to exceed the supposed 66,000 annual cap on H-2B outsourcing visas by a number equal to the maximum number of workers who benefited from an earlier exemption, dubbed the “returning worker exemption.

The H-2B program also permits companies that specialize in seasonal work to import up to 66,000 foreign workers each year. It also implies that companies would not have to pay a premium to hire Americans for seasonal overtime work