Episode 76: Immigration solutions for labor shortages in the hospitality industry

It’s May 30, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.

• Business groups push for easier green card processes.
• A college basketball star makes her WNBA debut after visa delays.
• Changes to immigration rules could help solve labor shortages in the hospitality industry.

“I talk to folks and a lot of people are empathetic, but they need to hear from the constituents. They need to know that businesses are suffering. They need to know that they can’t hire someone. They need to know that they’re losing money every day, every month that positions go unfilled.”

• Ashley McNeil, American Hotel and Lodging Association

U.S. news

Organizations comment on Schedule A revision

More than 200 organizations and individuals responded to the Department of Labor’s call for public input on whether to revise its Schedule A list of job classifications. Schedule A occupations are not subject to the permanent labor certification, or PERM, process. The list has not been updated since 2004.

Comments called for modernization of the list to advance national interests and keep the U.S. talent pool competitive, especially in technology fields such as artificial intelligence. Updating the list would also help address labor shortages, provide greater predictability for international students seeking employment in the U.S. and improve processing times by reducing the number of jobs requiring PERM. Organizations also recommended that the Labor Department develop a process to regularly and methodically revise the list of occupations.

This request for information is a preliminary step in the rulemaking process; BAL will continue following the matter and provide updates as they become available.

Women’s sports and visa delays

Former University of Connecticut basketball star Nika Mühl made her long-awaited debut in the WNBA last week after undergoing visa delays. Mühl, who is Croatian, earned honorable-mention All-American honors from the Associated Press. She was the 14th overall pick in the WNBA draft this year. Gabriel Castro, the head of BAL’s Sports and Entertainment Practice Group, shared his thoughts on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing challenges that female foreign athletes often face.

“You know, it happens in sports, but you hate to see it at any level, and something that I am quite familiar with, from representing multiple female athletes across several different sports, is that sometimes that the women’s sports don’t get the same sort of treatment as the men’s sports. Women’s sports in the United States are growing at a very rapid pace. You’re seeing record television rights deals for the NWSL. You’re seeing superstars like Caitlin Clark sign endorsement deals that were unheard of a decade ago. And people are watching women’s sports much more than they have before. These sports are growing, and I think that USCIS really needs to catch up in how they’re treating our female athletes. I think it’s a matter of equality and a matter of, hopefully, time before they start seeing the truth here, and that is that women’s sports are here to stay.”

U.S. news roundup

• USCIS updated guidance for family-based immigration visas.
• Immigration advocates called on President Biden to extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
• A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research linked immigration to increased economic growth and innovation.

Spotlight

A conversation with BAL Partner Jeff Joseph and American Hotel and Lodging Association Vice President of Federal Affairs Ashley McNeil: a look at the importance of the H-2B program and other visa programs in the hospitality industry.

BAL Immigration Report: Earlier this week, BAL Partner Jeff Joseph spoke with Ashley McNeil, vice president of federal affairs for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, or AHLA. In this position, McNeil lobbies on behalf of the hotel industry on several issues, including immigration. BAL is an allied partner of AHLA. Joseph opened the conversation by asking McNeil about the organization and its work.

Joseph: Thank you, Ashley, for joining us for this podcast. Talk a little bit about the challenges that the hospitality industry faces, especially as it relates to foreign worker shortages and shortages in general. Before we get there, tell me a little bit about the AHLA — the American Hospitality and Lodging Association — tell me about your membership, what your mission is, what you all do in this space.

McNeil: Sure. We are the largest hotel trade association in the country. We represent all facets of the hotel industry: the brands, independent properties, bed and breakfast, the REITs, the owners — we cover everyone. And our mission is to advocate on behalf of the industry.

Joseph: Well, let’s talk a little bit about the hotel industry in general. We’re sort of through COVID at this point. We’ve survived COVID. But I’m sure there’s probably some lingering impacts in your industry of COVID. So talk a little bit about your industry workforce challenges that you currently have and things like that.

McNeil: We really are optimistic about the hotel industry. We’ve really bounced back from COVID. Folks are traveling again. People are adding on to their business trips to create what we call “bleisure” — when you mix business with leisure. Our main concern is the lack of workforce. We just don’t have enough workers to staff our properties to the best of their ability. But in general, the bottom line is great for us, so our folks are happy, so we’re happy.

Joseph: And is there a sense of what the drivers are for that current workforce shortage?

McNeil: We don’t know. There was a shortage just before COVID but obviously not to this extent. We’re missing about 200,000 workers, and we don’t know where they went. It’s just troublesome because we’re doing everything we can to recruit new workers: There’s increased flexibility. We’re paying more than we’ve ever paid before. People are getting paid same day if they need to. They’re being allowed to take from their paycheck early if an emergency comes up. We’re doing all we can to recruit and retain folks. We don’t know where they are.

Joseph: So how important, as we go into the summer season and vacation season, obviously you all have tremendous peak load needs during those seasons for workforce. What are the consequences if you can’t find the kind of workforce you need to staff during peak load seasons like the summer?

McNeil: Well, everything gets exacerbated. Prior to the summer season, restaurants weren’t open. The entire hotel tell wasn’t open as far as rooms to rent for a night, and it’s just worse with peak season rapidly approaching.

Joseph: And the advocacy you’re doing with Congress, is immigration part of your portfolio?

McNeil: It is.

Joseph: Talk a little bit about the immigration policy piece of it and what things you’re advocating for on Capitol Hill with regard to immigration?

McNeil: We’re advocating for a lot of things. Immigration is so polarized right now, but I think everyone is aware of the shortage of workforce, not only in our industry but various other industries. I’m the chair of the H-2B Coalition, and our resorts rely on H-2B employees to even open their properties, some of them. We’ve even found that some hotels use H-2Bs to help supplement their workforce shortages even though they’re not necessarily a seasonal property.
So I’m advocating for increasing the cap by any means necessary. There’s currently a bill that Congresswoman Slotkin introduced where it ties the cap to worker certifications that the Department of Labor certifies. So that would give you a more realistic view of the need of workers for H-2Bs.

Joseph: I’ve always advocated for the fact that we use Bureau of Labor Statistics — they can get very granular on the labor statistics locally in economies. Why not tie high H-2B need to those labor statistics so that you’re providing workers in the places where there’s the most need? So 100% aligned with you on that. Also, re the returning worker exemption — it used to be that if you had an H-2B worker, they weren’t counted against a cap if they return to you the following season. So something as simple as just bringing back the returning worker exemption would go a long way to solve the crisis that we have around H-2B.

How reliant would you say that the hospitality industry is on visas being available for workers? You know, J-1s, H-2Bs, green cards, those kind of things.

McNeil: I would say they’re hugely reliant. There’s obviously a subset that is solely reliant on H-2Bs and J-1s. But for that small subset, it’s everything for them. I mean, Mackinac Island is a seasonal area in Michigan. You cannot hire local people to work for three or four months. It used to be college students or maybe teachers, and their summer season would come and take some of these jobs, but we have shoulder seasons now. College students aren’t coming home in April to start working. Teachers are still teaching. So you have to use foreign labor to fill in those holes because the local folks don’t want the jobs. And that’s a part of the process with the H-2Bs. You have to prove that you have advertised this open position and no one is applying for it. No one wants to show up and do the work.

Joseph: You mentioned that Congress is really polarized now, but also that there is some positive legislation being introduced to try and solve these problems. What’s your sense of the chances of anything positive happening, even if we carve out something like H-2 visas? Is there any chance of standalone legislation that may help?

McNeil: If I had a little crystal ball, I would unfortunately say I don’t see any changes in this Congress. I just think it’s too much of a controversial topic even though we’re not asking for immigration reform overall. We just want this one small portion to be more realistic to help American businesses because that’s what’s really happening. Businesses are suffering.

Joseph: Absolutely. And it’s interesting because, as we go into an election, it’s almost impossible to come up with immigration solutions because it’s a wedge issue. It can be used one way or the other by both parties to drive voters. And so I agree with you that the chances of seeing any sort of positive change, especially in an election year, are really remote. That being said, how can your members, how can the general public who are listening to this podcast who care about this issue — what can they do?

McNeil: Talk to your members of Congress, talk to your senators. I talk to folks and a lot of people are empathetic, but they need to hear from the constituents. They need to know that businesses are suffering. They need to know that they can’t hire someone. They need to know that they’re losing money every day, every month that positions go unfilled. That, I feel like, it would make the difference, just keep batting the drum and just lay into the fact that we need workers.

The cap was instituted in 1990, which is just woefully insufficient 34 years later. And our unemployment rate is so low, so who’s going to take these jobs outside of foreign workers? Call your senators. Call your Congress folks. Call your city council people. If they’re not hearing from you, nothing’s going to change.

Joseph: Ashley, thank you so much for your words of wisdom. And BAL really appreciates being an allied partner of AHLA, and look forward to working with you to try and create change around immigration and the hospitality industry. So thank you so much for participating.

McNeil: Thank you, Jeff.

Global news

Germany launches opportunity cards

In Germany, a new residence permit called an “opportunity card” will launch June 1. This card will allow qualified non-EU nationals to come to Germany to search for a job and work on a trial basis for up to one year. Opportunity cards will be granted on a point system that will consider age, language skills, education and other qualifications. Applicants must receive at least six points to qualify. Officials intend the program to attract more highly skilled workers to Germany.

Canada to restore some citizenship by descent rights

The Canadian government has introduced legislation to extend citizenship by descent beyond its current first-generation limit. The amendment to the Citizenship Act comes after a court ruling last year found the limit originally introduced in 2009 to be unconstitutional.

The measure will confer Canadian citizenship to children born abroad to a Canadian parent who was also born abroad if the parent has spent at least three years physically present in Canada prior to the birth of the child. The bill will also restore citizenship to so-called “Lost Canadians” who lost or never received citizenship due to previous legislation.

Global news roundup

• Israeli officials announced that a new electronic travel authorization system will launch Aug. 1.
• Singapore postponed planned updates to salary benchmarks.
• The European Commission announced a 12% increase to short-stay Schengen visa fees.

Follow us on X, and sign up for daily immigration updates. We’ll be back next week with more news from the world of corporate immigration.