The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will make nearly
65,000 additional H-2B worker visas available in the U.S. government's 2025
fiscal year, in addition to the 66,000 mandated by Congress, the agency
announced Friday.
Meanwhile, also on Friday, a U.S. District Court in Texas
invalidated a U.S. Department of Labor rule set earlier this year expanded the
pool of workers eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a
week.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association hailed both
moves as steps to ease the
industry's post-pandemic labor crunch.
DHS's move will make available an additional 64,716 H-2B
visas, which enable foreign workers to work in the United States on a temporary
or seasonal basis. That figure is the maximum permitted by Congress, DHS said.
The 2025 fiscal year began Oct. 1
"We welcome this decision, while urging Congress to
step in and create a more predictable system based on the need for workers
instead of the arbitrary, outdated H-2B visa caps in place today," said
AHLA president and CEO Rosanna Maietta, who joined
the industry group last week, in a statement. "We look forward to
working with members of Congress to achieve just that."
Meanwhile, U.S. District Court Judge Sean Jordan on Friday struck
down a Department of Labor rule, enacted in July, that increased the
compensation threshold under which workers must be paid overtime when they work
more than 40 hours in a week from $35,568 to $43,888 in July 2024, then to $58,656
on Jan. 1, 2025, with automatic increases set every three subsequent years.
Jordan ruled the Labor Department exceeded its authority in making the new
thresholds, which will revert to $35,568.
AHLA said it did not oppose the first increase, which it
called "an appropriate adjustment to account for inflation" but did
oppose the second increase and the planned automatic adjustments. Those, it
said in a statement, "would have dramatically increased costs and made it
much more difficult for small business hoteliers to operate their properties."