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Maine Senators Call For More Visas For Seasonal Workers

Federal officials are releasing an additional 30,000 H-2B visas to help employers across the country fill seasonal jobs.

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King say that's double the number of additional visas allotted in each of the past two years. King says this is really good news for inns and restaurants all over Maine.

“I've heard of small hotel and restaurants that, without this relief, were unlikely to be able to open this summer,” he says.

The H-2B program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. King says employers are only able to use H-2B workers if local help can't be found.

King and Collins are calling for the release of more of these visas, as the current numbers don’t meet the overwhelming need given the tight labor market and record low unemployment.

Updated 5:49 p.m. March 29, 2019

Ed is a Maine native who spent his early childhood in Livermore Falls before moving to Farmington. He graduated from Mount Blue High School in 1970 before going to the University of Maine at Orono where he received his BA in speech in 1974 with a broadcast concentration. It was during that time that he first became involved with public broadcasting. He served as an intern for what was then called MPBN TV and also did volunteer work for MPBN Radio.