Keating Joined by 37 Other Congressional Members Calling for Audit of Unused H-2B Visas

William Richard Keating

BARNSTABLE – Representative Bill Keating and 37 other members of Congress have authored a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly requesting that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conduct an audit of the unused H-2B work visas from the first half of the 2017 fiscal year.

The visas allow for those from other nations to work in the U.S. and have been of particular importance to Cape Cod business owners who cannot find enough seasonal workers to satisfy the influx of patrons in the summer.

The letter calls for USCIS to ensure the full number of available visas are utilized each year and that they take steps to ensure timely processing of applications.

Each half of the fiscal year, USCIS allows for 30,000 of the visas to be honored.

The first half of the year’s cap was recently reached.