(Washington, DC) – The National Restaurant Association today issued the following statement from acting interim president and chief executive officer, Peter Kilgore, regarding the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announcement that it has reached the cap for new H-2B worker petitions:

“As expected, the H-2B Temporary Worker Visa cap has been reached early for the second half of this fiscal year.  Employers rely on the H-2B Temporary Visas for short-term help in situations where domestic labor is not readily available.  By reaching the cap so quickly, many employers were prohibited from applying for needed seasonal workers. 

“The Association remains committed to implementing a long-term comprehensive solution to this problem.  Earlier this week, Senators Mikulski and Warner introduced bipartisan legislation to provide a 5 year extension of the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act.  While not a permanent solution, we applaud the Senators for introducing this bill which will provide seasonal employers with greater access to the workers they need.”