$1.8 Billion in Wages Stolen by H-2B Visa Employers

Daniel Costa, Economic Policy Institute, Aug. 18, 2022

"Data from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that there were nearly 117,000 H-2B workers in 2021, and the program is projected to grow to more than 150,000 workers in 2022, a new high. Why does that matter? Because as this growth occurs, migrant workers with H-2B visas are being employed in industries in which there is extensive wage theft and lawbreaking by employers. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) show that, in the seven major industries in which nearly all H-2B workers are employed, nearly $1.8 billion in wages was stolen from workers (which includes both U.S. and migrant workers) between 2000 and 2021. During the period from 2000 to 2021, 225,227 cases were investigated by WHD in the seven major H-2B industries, and violations were found in 180,451, or 80%, of those cases. That means that whenever WHD investigates an employer in one of these seven major H-2B industries, there is an 80% chance—a very high likelihood—that WHD will find one or more violations."