U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s release of 20,000 additional H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2022:

“The release of these additional visas is a good start to address the U.S. travel industry’s significant workforce challenges, but more is needed to ensure businesses are adequately staffed—particularly ahead of the busy summer travel season when so many businesses rely on access to temporary workers to sustain operations.

“With more than 1.5 million job openings in the Leisure & Hospitality sector alone, we respectfully urge the administration to release additional H-2B visas, which will be instrumental in facilitating an even recovery across all sectors of travel. U.S. Travel thanks the administration for their attention to this critical labor issue and stands ready to assist as we continue through this period of economic recovery.”

US announces 20,000 additional H-2B visas

The U.S. government said it would grant an additional 20,000 H-2B visas for the first half of the fiscal year, in an attempt to ease the U.S. work crunch

The visas are aimed at helping U.S. employers that face irreparable harm if they cannot get additional workers on or before March 31, 2022, the departments of Homeland Security and Labor said in a statement.

"We are providing employers with the resources and support needed to sustain their businesses while expanding lawful pathways to the United States," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.