The Labor Department on Friday unveiled rules that reshape a program for foreign migrants in work other than agriculture, which officials said would strengthen protections for those workers and also spur recruitment of Americans for such jobs. It was the latest move in a protracted battle between employers and the Obama administration over the nation’s temporary guest workers.
The extensive rules — 575 pages long — make important changes across the program, which is known as H-2B. The changes were hailed by advocates for guest workers, who said they would make it more difficult for businesses to exploit vulnerable foreign migrants and hire them to undercut Americans.
But reflecting the divisions over the program, employers who use it regularly said the new rules, which will take effect April 23, would make the process too slow and cumbersome for their seasonal businesses and would ultimately lead to the loss of American jobs.
“This is another log in the road to derail the whole industry here,” said Jack Brooks, a crab processor from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland who is a member of a group of employers in the H-2B program, the Coalition to Save America’s Seafood Industry. “If you take the seafood people away, tens of thousands of American jobs are at risk,” Mr. Brooks said.
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