• Industries that employ the majority of H-2B visa holders have accounted for nearly $1.8 billion in wage and hour violations during the past two decades, creating an environment that is likely exploitative of migrant employees and U.S. citizens who work beside them, according to an Aug. 18 Economic Policy Institute report.
• EPI pointed to more than 180,000 violations between the fiscal years of 2000 and 2021 across a list of seven industries, including amusement; construction; food services; forestry; hotels and motels; janitorial services; and landscaping services. In all, more than 1.6 million employees were owed back wages.
• EPI said its data represented violations and back wages owed to any employees in the select industries, including U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, H-2B workers and workers of any other immigration status.

Dive Insight:

The H-2B visa program allows employers to hire temporary, nonimmigrant workers to perform nonagricultural work. But a lack of protections makes H-2B visa holders vulnerable to exploitation, according to the EPI report. The left-learning think tank cited news reports, research from third parties and legal documents that supported this conclusion.

For example, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit in 2008 on behalf of H-2B visa holders from India who had been hired by a marine services company to perform restorative services along the U.S. Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A federal jury awarded five...

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