There might be less incentive for migrants to enter the country illegally if clearer U.S. visa work programs were in place, says Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor, and state affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors.
Associated Builders and Contractors, a construction industry trade association, “is clear that there’s no place in our country for lawbreakers of any kind, and we oppose any efforts to facilitate that,” he said. But there needs to be a clear process that “does allow for foreign workers here legally … to participate in the construction industry,” he said.
“And, you know, if there were an easier system, I don’t know that we’d have as many people here illegally, so I think we’ve got to sort of address that,” Brubeck told The Daily Signal.
Under the U.S. H-2B program, 66,000 aliens are allowed to enter the country each fiscal year “to fill temporary nonagricultural” jobs, and can stay in the country for a maximum of three years, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But those 66,000 workers only make a small dent in the current construction worker shortage.
Instead of capping the H-2B program at a set number, it should be based on economic need within the industry, Brubeck said.
Currently, the biggest issue within the construction industry is a shortage of skilled labor, according to Brubeck, who has worked for the trade association for 21 years.
Associated Builders and Contractors, which represents the needs of more than 23,000 companies, estimates there is a shortage of 439,000 people in the construction industry, which employs about 8 million in the U.S.
“It’s harder to get new people in the industry, especially the young folks,” Brubeck said, adding that his association is working to “recruit from all different entry points in the industry.”
The strategy to meet the needs in the construction worker shortage includes getting “more legal immigrants into the industry and also [making] sure that the illegal immigrant population is not working and undercutting the wages of legal immigrants as well as [those of] the American workforce,” he said.
In addition to removing the permanent cap on the H-2B program, Brubeck said Associated Builders and Contractors has been pushing for a merit-based, market-driven visa system that would “make sure the people who are coming in for these jobs are fully vetted and have a skill and have the ability and opportunity to work and are serious about it.”
The construction worker shortage can also be addressed through a bill Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., introduced in 2023 called the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act. The bill, if passed, would create a new visa program that would allow up to 85,000 annual positions for temporary workers to address worker shortages in the construction industry. Associated Builders and Contractors supports the bill.
Brubeck says association members also want to see “administrative backlogs” addressed “for work authorization documents from immigrants who are legally residing in the United States.”
In recent years, the construction industry has suffered under something of a “perfect storm,” Brubeck explained.
“We’ve had material costs increased 40% since the start of the [COVID-19] pandemic until the start the Trump administration, so, you know, everything’s more expensive. We’ve got higher interest rates, so lending and financing is more expensive,” Brubeck said. “We’ve got permitting delays, and issues getting big projects built because of permitting inefficiencies, and we’ve got the skilled labor shortage.”
The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration could lead to increased wages for workers in the construction industry, and that cost is often passed onto the customer or taxpayer, he said, but it’s “good news for existing workers.”
Brubeck said he’s looking forward to “working with the administration and then our partners and states to address” the challenges facing the construction industry.
Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.”
Reproduced with permission. Original here: H-2B Visa Reforms Eyed for Construction Worker Shortages
Help American Liberty PAC in our mission to elect conservatives and save our nation. Support – American Liberty PAC