By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation proposing a new visa program in the United States.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., introduced the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act on Tuesday. The program establishes an H-2C visa program for temporary, low-skilled workers in areas where American workers have consistently not been hired.

“The Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act is a commonsense, bipartisan, and market-driven solution that addresses workforce shortages in key industries while ensuring American workers are prioritized,” Smucker said. “This guest worker program will help employers fill positions that have remained vacant for months and grow our economy.”

U.S. Customs and Immigration Services offers several visa programs for foreign workers across various skill levels. However, advocates and lawmakers have said these programs are not always fully utilized and tend to have burdensome caps which limit employment opportunities for foreign workers.

Jordan Fischetti, an immigration policy fellow at the Americans for Prosperity, said the H-2C visa program helps fill in the gaps where programs like H-2A and H-2B programs might not pick up certain workers.

“It would basically help to get more temporary workers into the U.S.,” Fischetti said.

The legislation suggests placing an initial cap of 65,000 H-2C visas on the program and allowing demand to dictate whether the cap should increase or decrease between 45,000 and 85,000 visas.

The H-2C program would be valid for three years and eligible for renewal twice, allowing an immigrant up to nine years of legal status in the United States.

The legislation restricts program participation to employers in areas where unemployment is 7.9% or less in an apparent effort to prevent American workers from being disadvantaged. The bill also would require employers to demonstrate that a position has gone unfilled for three consecutive months.

Immigrants who apply for the program must receive an offer letter of employment and pass a criminal background check. Foreign workers are not allowed to bring any family members and cannot come from a country that supports international terrorism, per the U.S. Secretary of State. Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria are all considered countries that support international terrorism.

Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association, praised the bill’s introduction for its impact on the restaurant industry.

“This year, restaurant operators are forecast to create 200,000 new jobs, but with a shortage of people in the U.S. workforce, it will be a challenge to fill those jobs,” Kennedy said. “There is no silver bullet that will solve the industry’s recruitment challenge, but the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act creates one opportunity to address the issue.”

However, Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, said adding an H-2C visa program would not fix the problem American businesses are facing and it would prevent Americans from getting jobs.

“What we need to do is reform the existing visas to make sure that they are not being used by employers as a source of cheap labor in order to not hire American workers,” Jenks said.

According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, average hourly wages in industries employing H-2B visa workers were as much as 22% lower than national average hourly wages. The H-2B program is used for nonagricultural temporary workers, primarily in landscaping, construction and hospitality industries.

“The importation of foreign workers drives wages down,” Jenks said. “We see that in the H-2B program.”

Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., were among 10 lawmakers who joined Smucker in cosponsoring the bill.

Smucker previously introduced the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act in 2023.