Recommendation: The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should work with the Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration to assess options for changing the H-2B visa program and, as warranted, implement changes or submit proposed legislative changes to Congress. DHS and DOL could consider options included in their June 2019 report to Congress and identify those that may be implemented cost effectively and without adversely affecting U.S. workers. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Status: Open

Comments: DHS agreed with this recommendation and noted that it plans to work further with DOL to explore options for improving the H-2B visa program and possibly develop proposals for legislative changes.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should work with the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to assess options for changing the H-2B visa program and, as warranted, implement changes or submit proposed legislative changes to Congress. DOL and DHS could consider options included in their June 2019 report to Congress and identify those that may be implemented cost effectively and without adversely affecting U.S. workers. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. DOL said it is prepared to work with DHS to consider options for changing the H-2B program and to provide any technical assistance that Congress may need on this issue. We will monitor the agency's progress to implement this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should work with the Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide when given this authority by Congress and, as warranted, implement an approach that considers such trends. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Homeland Security: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Status: Open

Comments: DHS did not agree with this recommendation. DHS said it would continue to work with DOL-as it has done in prior years--if and when Congress delegates the authority to make additional H-2B visas available beyond the statutory cap to DHS. The agency also expressed its view that Congress is better positioned to determine whether and how many additional visas should be made available to meet the needs of U.S. businesses. In fiscal years 2017 through 2020, DHS was authorized to increase the number of H-2B visas beyond the statutory cap, after consulting with DOL to determine that "the needs of American businesses [could not] be satisfied...with United States workers..." In exercising this authority in prior years, DHS stated that "[t]he scope of the assessment called for by the statute [in making this determination] is quite broad, and accordingly delegates the Secretary of Homeland Security broad discretion to identify the business needs [s]he finds most relevant." In light of DHS's broad view of its authority, we continue to believe that it would be appropriate for DHS, in consultation with DOL, to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide. If they determine that using such data would be warranted, the agencies would then be well positioned to implement such an approach if DHS is granted such authority in the future. Moreover, if-as DHS stated in its response to our recommendation-the agency believes that Congress is best suited to determine what increases in visa numbers may be needed to meet the needs of U.S. businesses, consistent with protecting American workers, it may wish to work with Congress to draft a legislative proposal reflecting this view.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should work with the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to assess the advantages and disadvantages of considering current economic trends in determining the appropriate number of additional H-2B visas to provide when given this authority by Congress and, as warranted, implement an approach that considers such trends. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to draw on its data on labor market and economic trends to provide technical assistance to DHS on the determination of how many additional H-2B visas to make available.

Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration should take steps to target its audits of H-2B employers to employers with the highest likelihood of violating program requirements; such steps could include moving ahead with developing a system for identifying trends in H-2B employer audit outcomes. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of Labor: Employment and Training Administration
Status: Open

Comments: DOL agreed with this recommendation. DOL noted that while further development of a system for tracking industry and occupational trends in H-2B employer violations is currently on hold due to budgetary constraints, when this system is available it will provide the capacity to take a risk-based approach to selecting employers for audits. We will monitor the agency's progress to implement this recommendation.