Colorado heavily dependent on H-2B

Colorado companies in landscaping, construction, hospitality and tourism are getting notices that the federal government has denied their visa applications to bring foreign workers to meet the summer demands, according to reports from The Denver Post newspaper.

“We don’t know how we will get the workers,” Jake Leman, construction division manager at Singing Hills Landscaping, told The Denver Post after the company was rejected.

Historically low unemployment rates and worsening labor shortages across a growing number of industries and states are pushing more employers to seek help outside U.S. borders, but the cap of 66,000 visas hasn’t changed since the 1990s and the climate around immigration and the use of foreign workers is tough, The Denver Post reported.

“The biggest thing that makes this year different is the sheer demand for visas,” John McMahon, executive director of the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado, told The Denver Post.

The federal government received requests for 82,000 visas on Jan. 1, compared with 24,000 requests that came in on the first day of 2017. In all, more than 144,000 visa requests have come in for the 33,000 slots, McMahan told The Denver Post. So, the Department of Homeland Security is using a lottery system for the first time. A drawing on Feb. 28 created winners and losers.

To find out more on how Colorado landscapers are being impacted by H-2B, read the full story in The Denver Post here.