Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1740 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for an H–2C nonimmigrant classification, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 13, 2019 Mr. SMUCKER (for himself, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, and Mr. STEUBE) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for an H–2C nonimmigrant classification, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce for an Ex- 4 panding Economy Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1740 IH SEC. 2. NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION FOR H–2C NON- 1 IMMIGRANTS. 2 Section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii) of the Immigration and 3 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)) is amended 4 by inserting ‘‘(c) who is coming temporarily to the United 5 States to perform services or labor for a registered non- 6 agricultural employer in a registered position (as those 7 terms are defined in section 219A(a)) in accordance with 8 the requirements under section 219A; or’’ before ‘‘(iii) 9 have a residence’’. 10 SEC. 3. ADMISSION OF H–2C NONIMMIGRANT WORKERS. 11 (a) ADMISSION OF H–2C NONIMMIGRANT WORK- 12 ERS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the 14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et 15 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 219A. ADMISSION OF H–2C NONIMMIGRANT WORK- 17 ERS. 18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT.—Except as otherwise spe- 20 cifically provided, the term ‘Department’ means the 21 Department of Homeland Security. 22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE OCCUPATION.—The term ‘eligi- 23 ble occupation’ means an eligible occupation de- 24 scribed in subsection (e)(3). 25 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYER.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employer’ 1 means any person or operational unit of a for- 2 profit or nonprofit entity that is operating inde- 3 pendently in a county or metropolitan statistical 4 area and who hires an individual for employ- 5 ment in the United States. 6 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF SINGLE EM- 7 PLOYER.—For purposes of determining the 8 number of employees or United States workers 9 employed by an employer, a single entity shall 10 be treated as 1 employer. 11 ‘‘(4) ENDURING JOB OPENING.—The term ‘en- 12 during job opening’ refers to a job opening that— 13 ‘‘(A) remains unfilled on the first day of 14 the month for 3 consecutive months; or 15 ‘‘(B) is unfilled for more than 60 days in 16 a period of 90 consecutive days. 17 ‘‘(5) FULL EMPLOYMENT AREA.—The term ‘full 18 employment area’ refers to any county or metropoli- 19 tan statistical area where the unemployment rate 20 during the fiscal quarter during which an application 21 is submitted by an employer is equal to or less than 22 4.9 percent. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(6) H–2C NONIMMIGRANT.—The term ‘H–2C 1 nonimmigrant’ means an alien admitted as a non- 2 immigrant pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(c). 3 ‘‘(7) H–2C NONIMMIGRANT STATUS.—The term 4 ‘H–2C nonimmigrant status’ means status granted 5 to an alien admitted as a nonimmigrant pursuant to 6 section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(c). 7 ‘‘(8) INITIAL H–2C NONIMMIGRANT.—The term 8 ‘initial H–2C nonimmigrant’ means an alien— 9 ‘‘(A) issued an H–2C-nonimmigrant visa 10 by the Secretary of State authorizing the ad- 11 mission of that alien to the United States for 12 the first time as an H–2C nonimmigrant; and 13 ‘‘(B) does not include an alien on or after 14 the date the alien commences employment in 15 H–2C nonimmigrant status with a registered 16 employer in a registered position. 17 ‘‘(9) LAY OFF.—The term ‘lay off’— 18 ‘‘(A) means to cause a worker to lose em- 19 ployment, other than through a discharge for 20 inadequate performance, violation of workplace 21 rules, cause, voluntary departure, voluntary re- 22 tirement, or the expiration of a grant or con- 23 tract; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(B) does not include any situation in 1 which the worker is offered and refused to ac- 2 cept, as an alternative to such loss of employ- 3 ment, a similar employment opportunity with 4 the same employer at equivalent or higher com- 5 pensation and benefits than the position from 6 which the employee was discharged. 7 ‘‘(10) METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA.— 8 The term ‘metropolitan statistical area’ means a ge- 9 ographic area designated as a metropolitan statis- 10 tical area by the Director of the Office of Manage- 11 ment and Budget. 12 ‘‘(11) REGISTERED EMPLOYER.—The term 13 ‘registered employer’ means an operational business 14 unit of a nonagricultural employer that is operating 15 independently in a full employment area and is des- 16 ignated by the Secretary as a registered employer 17 under subsection (d). 18 ‘‘(12) REGISTERED POSITION.—The term ‘reg- 19 istered position’ means a position designated as a 20 registered position under subsection (e). 21 ‘‘(13) SCARCITY RECRUITMENT FEE.—The 22 term ‘scarcity recruitment fee’ refers to a payment 23 equal to 5 percent of an H–2C immigrant’s esti- 24 mated annual compensation that a registered em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1740 IH ployer remits to the Secretary as part of the employ- 1 er’s application for a registered position in order to 2 demonstrate said employer’s inability to recruit a 3 United States worker for the position. 4 ‘‘(14) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise spe- 5 cifically provided, the term ‘Secretary’ means the 6 Secretary of Homeland Security. 7 ‘‘(15) SINGLE ENTITY.—The term ‘single enti- 8 ty’ means any group treated as a single employer 9 under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 11 ‘‘(16) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi- 12 ness’ means an employer that employs 50 or fewer 13 full-time equivalent employees. 14 ‘‘(17) UNITED STATES WORKER.—The term 15 ‘United States worker’ means an individual who is— 16 ‘‘(A) lawfully employed or seeking employ- 17 ment in the United States; and 18 ‘‘(B)(i) a national of the United States; 19 ‘‘(ii) an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 20 nent residence; or 21 ‘‘(iii) any other alien authorized to work in 22 the United States with no limitation as to the 23 alien’s employer. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(18) ZONE 1 OCCUPATION.—The term ‘zone 1 1 occupation’ means an occupation that requires little 2 or no preparation and is classified as a zone 1 occu- 3 pation on— 4 ‘‘(A) the Occupational Information Net- 5 work Database (O*NET) on the date of the en- 6 actment of this section; or 7 ‘‘(B) such Database or a similar successor 8 database, as designated by the Secretary of 9 Labor, after the date of the enactment of this 10 section. 11 ‘‘(19) ZONE 2 OCCUPATION.—The term ‘zone 2 12 occupation’ means an occupation that requires some 13 preparation and is classified as a zone 2 occupation 14 on— 15 ‘‘(A) the Occupational Information Net- 16 work Database (O*NET) on the date of the en- 17 actment of this section; or 18 ‘‘(B) such Database or a similar successor 19 database, as designated by the Secretary of 20 Labor, after the date of the enactment of this 21 section. 22 ‘‘(20) ZONE 3 OCCUPATION.—The term ‘zone 3 23 occupation’ means an occupation that requires me- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1740 IH dium preparation and is classified as a zone 3 occu- 1 pation on— 2 ‘‘(A) the Occupational Information Net- 3 work Database (O*NET) on the date of the en- 4 actment of this section; or 5 ‘‘(B) such Database or a similar successor 6 database, as designated by the Secretary of 7 Labor, after the date of the enactment of this 8 section. 9 ‘‘(b) ADMISSION INTO THE UNITED STATES.—An 10 alien is eligible to be admitted as an H–2C nonimmigrant 11 if the alien— 12 ‘‘(1) has received an offer of employment from 13 a registered employer; and 14 ‘‘(2) otherwise meets the requirements of this 15 section. 16 ‘‘(c) H–2C NONIMMIGRANTS.— 17 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An alien seeking to be an 18 H–2C nonimmigrant shall submit an application to 19 the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(2) ATTESTATION.—Each application sub- 21 mitted under paragraph (1) for an alien shall in- 22 clude an attestation as follows: 23 ‘‘(A) That the H–2C nonimmigrant will re- 24 port to such nonimmigrant’s initial employment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1740 IH in a registered position not later than 14 days 1 after such nonimmigrant is admitted. 2 ‘‘(B) That the H–2C nonimmigrant will 3 accept only registered positions and abide by all 4 terms and conditions of H–2C nonimmigrant 5 status. 6 ‘‘(C) That the H–2C nonimmigrant will 7 not bring a family member to the United States 8 in violation of any provision of this Act. 9 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION REVIEW.—The Secretary 10 shall adjudicate an application submitted under 11 paragraph (1) not later than 45 days after the re- 12 ceipt of such application. 13 ‘‘(4) FEES.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each application sub- 15 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include a fee 16 in the amount determined by the Secretary ad- 17 judicating such application to be necessary to 18 cover the cost of adjudicating the application 19 within 45 days. 20 ‘‘(B) PREMIUM PROCESSING.—The Sec- 21 retary and the Secretary of State shall create 22 an expedited process to review an application 23 submitted under paragraph (1) for an addi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1740 IH tional fee, in an amount determined by such 1 Secretaries. 2 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBILITY FOR H–2C NONIMMIGRANT 3 STATUS.—No alien may be admitted as an H–2C 4 nonimmigrant if the alien— 5 ‘‘(A) is inadmissible under this Act; 6 ‘‘(B) fails to pass a criminal background 7 check or a national security background check; 8 ‘‘(C) is from a country determined by the 9 Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided 10 support for acts of international terrorism pur- 11 suant to— 12 ‘‘(i) section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export 13 Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 14 App. 2405(j)(1)(A)) (or successor statute); 15 ‘‘(ii) section 40(d) of the Arms Export 16 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or 17 ‘‘(iii) section 620A(a) of the Foreign 18 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 19 2371(a)); or 20 ‘‘(D) has not received an offer of employ- 21 ment from a registered employer in a registered 22 position. 23 ‘‘(6) EMPLOYMENT.— 24 ‘‘(A) INITIAL EMPLOYMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(i) REPORTING TO EMPLOYMENT.— 1 An initial H–2C nonimmigrant shall report 2 to such nonimmigrant’s initial employment 3 in a registered position not later than 14 4 days after such nonimmigrant is admitted 5 to the United States. 6 ‘‘(ii) REPORTING TO THE SEC- 7 RETARY.—An initial H–2C nonimmigrant 8 shall maintain contact with the Secretary 9 after such H–2C nonimmigrant is admit- 10 ted to the United States but before report- 11 ing to the initial employment at an interval 12 that is determined by the Secretary, but 13 not less than every 7 days. 14 ‘‘(B) PERIODS OF UNEMPLOYMENT.—An 15 H–2C nonimmigrant— 16 ‘‘(i) may be unemployed for a period 17 of not more than 45 consecutive days of 18 presence in the United States; and 19 ‘‘(ii) shall depart the United States if 20 such H–2C nonimmigrant is unable to ob- 21 tain employment during such period. 22 ‘‘(7) INITIAL PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED PRES- 23 ENCE.—An H–2C nonimmigrant may be physically 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1740 IH present in the United States for an initial period of 1 not more than a total of 36 months. 2 ‘‘(8) RENEWAL.—An H–2C nonimmigrant may 3 renew his or her H–2C nonimmigrant status for not 4 more than 2 additional consecutive periods of au- 5 thorized presence. 6 ‘‘(9) TRAVEL.—An H–2C nonimmigrant may 7 travel outside the United States and be readmitted 8 to the United States. 9 ‘‘(10) PENALTIES.—If an H–2C nonimmigrant 10 fails to comply with any other term or condition of 11 H–2C nonimmigrant status or remains in the 12 United States for 10 days after the date of the expi- 13 ration of his or her period of authorized presence 14 without status under the immigration laws, then the 15 Secretary shall mandatorily— 16 ‘‘(A) subject such nonimmigrant to the 17 revocation of employment authorization; and 18 ‘‘(B) initiate and pursue removal under 19 section 237(a)(1)(C)(i). 20 ‘‘(d) REGISTERED EMPLOYER.— 21 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An employer seeking to be 22 a registered employer may submit an application to 23 the Secretary. Each such application shall include 24 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Mar 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1740.IH H1740 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 1740 IH ‘‘(A) Documentation to establish that the 1 employer is a bona fide employer operating in 2 a full employment area. 3 ‘‘(B) Evidence that the employer is current 4 in payment of payroll taxes. 5 ‘‘(C) The employer’s Federal tax identifica- 6 tion number or employer identification number 7 issued by the Internal Revenue Service. 8 ‘‘(D) The number of H–2C nonimmigrants 9 the employer estimates the e [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]