Agency Freeze on Extra Seasonal Visas Leaves Employers in Limbo

The federal government’s decision to pause tens of thousands of additional visas for non-agricultural seasonal guestworkers means businesses that rely on those workers now face coronavirus-induced labor uncertainty in what should be their peak season.

“We are still desperately in need of those supplemental visas—Covid-19 hasn’t changed our number of applicants for H-2B workers at all,” said Danielle Bane, co-owner of Quality One Inc., a landscaping business in Havre de Grace, Md. “They told us they would send us relief and then they took it back because of this crisis, and I don’t see how the two are related. Landscaping ...