On Nov. 19, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing titled, “E-Verify: Ensuring Lawful Employment in America.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC joined the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition in a letter reaffirming support for a mandatory national employment verification system, only if paired with strong employer safeguards outlined in the Legal Workforce Act.

EWIC stressed the importance of clear employer protections, uniform federal standards, reasonable phase-ins, improved identity-verification tools, and fair, predictable penalties. These principles align with measures in recent proposals including H.R. 2, the Dignity Act, and the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act.

On March 14, ABC joined a coalition letter urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Labor to continue their release of supplemental H-2B visas, which has been occurring since December, as we approach the beginning of the second half cap season on April 1st.

ABC and a coalition of construction organizations have been working to oppose a planned proposal by Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., dubbed the Seasonal Employer Protection Act. This new legislation is a reiteration of previously shot-down proposals that would impose harmful and unjustified restrictions on the access of the construction industry to the H-2B seasonal guest worker program.

Included in the legislation is a new requirement for employers in the construction industry to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization as a condition of receiving an H-2B temporary labor certification. This new requirement would harm the more than 88% of the construction industry that has chosen not to join a union and establish labor organizations as the gatekeepers of H-2B for construction.

ABC also issued an action alert and urges members to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives to oppose this harmful legislation.