First Order of Business: Planet & ANLA Take on H-2B

WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) isn’t easing into its first year as a new green industry association. Members from the new organization, formed by an ALCA/PLCAA merger made official this month, met last week with representatives from the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) and other industries to tackle the issue of H-2B. Together, the group discussed problems stemming from the H-2B visa cap, potential solutions to those problems and opportunities to collectively bring about changes to the program in the near future.

Though becoming more popular for companies exhibiting seasonal labor needs, the H-2B program has become problematic for many industries since early 2004. The government-regulated program, which brings legal laborers into the United States from foreign countries, maintains a cap of 66,000 visas to be issued to companies looking for foreign workers to supplement their labor needs. In 2004, the cap was reached on March 9, leaving companies that needed workers later in the year out of luck. This year, the 66,000-visa limit was reached more than two months earlier on Jan. 4. As it stands, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service has stopped issuing H-2B visas, leaving companies that had yet to request their workers shorthanded for the remainder of the fiscal year.

“I expect there will be a much bigger constituency of individuals and companies advocating for H-2B reform this year than there were last year,” noted Libby Whitley, president of Mid-Atlantic Solutions or mas Labor, a Virginia-based H-2B provider company. Whitley noted that of her clients with dates of need earlier than March 1, 2005 and who filed their applications no later than 120 days prior to that need date, 95 percent received their visas. For clients with later dates of need or who did not meet deadlines, only 70 percent had their requests granted.

“Last year was the first time the cap was really enforced and we saw smaller companies or companies using H-2B for the first time be effected by the cap,” Whitley says. “This year, more and larger companies were affected.”

In some respects, Whitley and Planet and ANLA representatives believe this harder hit could work to the group’s advantage in terms of organizing a grassroots effort for H-2B reform. Though Congress made attempts last year to temporarily fix the cap issue and make permanent changes to the program, the 2004 elections prevented more legislators from taking on the H-2B issue.

This year, with more companies in numberous industries impacted by the visa cap, the budding coalition hopes to bring H-2B reform to the legislative forefront.

“Growth in the H-2B program has been enormous in recent years,” says Jim Holt of the Washington, D.C.-based law firm McGinnis, Norris & Williams, which works with many ANLA members on immigration issues. “It’s very important to employers in the green industry and many other industries, but labor unions and anti-immigration groups see the program as a threat. As we move forward, we need to get more companies involved in a grassroots effort to make the issue known, and we need to stress the economic importance of the program in keeping small businesses functioning. Also, we have to highlight the fact that if employers can’t rely on this program, which brings employers and employees together legally, more businesses will look for ‘alternative’ workforces and end up hiring more illegal labor.”

The combined meeting between Planet and ANLA, held Wednesday, Jan. 12, was attended by PLANET President Dan Foley, Secretary/Treasurer Maria Candler; Director of Government Affairs Tom Delaney; members Chuy Medrano, Cocal Lanscape, Denver, Colo., and Terri Feldhaus, Chapel Valley, Ellicott City, Md.; ANLA member Pete Haran of Lipinski Landscape & Irrigation and ANLA’s legislative policy committee; and PLANET government relations consultants David Crow and Laurie Flanagan. Also attending the meeting were Bob Dolibois and John Meredith from the American Nursery & Landscape Association, agents who process H-2B applications, and representatives from state landscape associations, the cannery business and the horse training and breeding industry.

In organizing a plan that would potentially be proposed to Congress, the group brainstormed a variety of solutions to the H-2B cap crisis, including eliminating the cap completely, exempting certain workers and rethinking how and when visas are counted against the cap. Ultimately, a multiphase plan was developed that would eliminate the cap over three years. The group made a presentation of their plan to the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition (EWIC) in a second meeting the following day.

“The EWIC group has been advocating comprehensive non-agricultural labor reform for many years and it works on a wealth of programs to help service sector communities,” explains Meredith, ANLA’s director of legislative relations. “While their biggest consideration is what is politically feasible, EWIC is well-informed on who’s doing what on Capitol Hill and can help us refine our message and get results. Because it’s such a strong group that covers a broad range of industries, working with EWIC is a logical starting place for our own H-2B coalition.”

During the Thursday meeting, Candler says the group devised an altered approach to H-2B reform, which will become the cornerstone for an eventual presentation to Congress.

“After a lengthy discussion, we determined the only viable political option to address the cap in the short term is to ask Congress to permanently exempt from the cap workers who have participated in the H-2B program at any time during the past three years and to direct the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to immediately resume processing H-2B applications on the day the bill is signed into to law,” Candler explains. “This option was deemed to have the greatest likelihood of success since many senators and members of Congress are already working on similar legislation. Workers who have used the program before have proven that they will return home after their seasonal work in the United States is complete, which eliminates strong objections from influential legislators who argue that increasing the number of H-2B workers will increase the number of illegal immigrants in the United States. In fact, the opposite is true; the H-2B program provides a means by which employers can legally access the workers they so vitally need. The closing of the cap so early in the year could actually lead to an increased use of illegal workers because no Americans can be found to do these jobs.”

Additionally, Candler says the group determined the lack of H-2B workers to be largely a small-business issue that could have a negative effect on the U.S. economy in terms of job loss and fewer equipment purchases. For example, companies that are not able to employ H-2B workers have a directly reduced need for American workers to serve as foremen or account managers for those crews, resulting in less hiring. Simultaneously, companies will scale back on expansion plans and equipment purchases because of their reduced workforces.

Overall, the combined PLANET/ANLA group called for public and congressional education on H-2B and its impact on the American economy. PLANET, in cooperation with other groups, is planning to organize a congressional staff briefing in the next few weeks. Additionally, PLANET has prepared a survey to be completed by all meeting participants that will also be passed onto their association members and clients, as a way to acquire case studies of these economic impacts. The survey is available by clicking here or by visiting the PLANET Web site.

Members of the green industry who are interested in working on the grassroots push for H-2B reform should contact PLANET or ANLA for more information on how best to get involved. Additionally, all members of the industry who have been affected by the H-2B visa cap are encouraged to write, phone and fax their legislators to make them aware of this issue and its urgent need for reform.

“I may be politically naïve, but I told all my clients to fax Congress three times a week and regularly craft new letters to explain the issue,” says Bob Wingfield, president of H-2B provider Amigos, Dallas, Texas. “That’s where this change has to start.”

Check Lawn & Landscape Online for regular H-2B legislative updates and suggestions on how you can get involved with this grassroots effort.