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11th-hour visa moves give businesses hope
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — A last-ditch effort to save the H-2B returning worker visa program, which local business owners believe is critical to their financial survival next summer, likely will live or die over the next week.
Joy McNulty, owner of the Lobster Pot restaurant, told selectmen that the bill, which would make it easier for returning foreign workers to get a seasonal work visa, has been attached to an omnibus appropriations bill that may come up for a vote in the House this week. In addition, a major opponent of the visa bill, the Hispanic Caucus, reportedly has withdrawn its opposition, according to Kevin Driscoll, legislative aid to Congressman William Delahunt (D-Cape & Islands).
“While this is good news, the leaders of the Caucus now must go to the House leadership and confirm this, which apparently has not happened yet.
Moreover, the omnibus bill has numerous other unrelated problems which must be resolved,” Driscoll told McNulty in an email.
But in another development, Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA), who has strongly opposed the visa exemption bill, has also withdrawn his objections to the bill, McNulty said.
“Our big opposition is gone. If we survive [a House vote], the bill goes to the Senate and could end up on the president’s desk by the end of the week,” she told selectmen.
Some additional, potentially good news came on Monday night. McNulty told selectmen that as of Dec. 4, only 7,000 foreign workers had submitted applications to fill the 33,000 visas available for summer workers, meaning that returning workers might have an easier time getting a visa this spring even if the exemption program is not passed. The extension would allow staff members who previously came to the U.S. on a seasonal work visa not to be counted against the annual 33,000 cap on summer workers.
However, even if the H-2B amendment passes this year, the bill only extends the program for one year. Unless the political climate surrounding the controversial issue of immigration changes, the same scenario is likely to occur next year, according to Alix Ritchie, a member of the town’s economic development council and the Banner’s publisher.
As a result, the EDC is proposing to survey local business owners to get an accurate estimate of the potential size of the labor shortfall that might occur in Provincetown if the returning foreign workers applying for H-2B or J1 visas are curtailed. If local business owners are forced to find an alternative workforce — the EDC mentioned hiring workers from New Bedford — they will face a volatile and competitive situation, vying for workers alongside other Cape Cod business owners, she said.
“Maybe the pressure is off this year. Maybe it isn’t. But under any circumstances, we have to be prepared to act swiftly,” Ritchie said.
Selectmen voted 5-0 to reword the draft EDC survey letter and mail it to local business owners, as well as post it on the town’s website. They also directed the licensing department to follow up with any businesses that do not respond to the survey.
“It’s something we really need to get a handle on. In the future, we need to take a much more proactive stance on this,” Selectman Michele Couture said.
Local employers across the country, including Cape Cod — which depends heavily on foreign workers to manage summer businesses — were dismayed in October when Congress did not renew the returning worker exemption to the H-2B foreign worker legislation, letting it expire.
Local employers have said that if Congress does not renew the exemption provision, it could have a devastating impact on resort community towns employing foreign workers, including Provincetown, which depends on staff from Jamaica, Eastern Europe and other countries to make up a large percentage of its summer work force.
Unless the exemption is renewed, dozens of foreign workers who return to Provincetown each summer will now be counted against the cap, which could significantly reduce the number of people allowed here to work next summer. The cap is split into two equal groups of 33,000, divided between winter and summer workers. The cap on winter workers was reached on Oct. 1, almost two months earlier than last year, according to Shawn Saucier, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
psowers@provincetownbanner.com
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Dec 13th, 2007