The Trump administration plans to make about 65,000 additional H-2B seasonal worker visas available through September 30, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The visas are meant for employers who say they could face serious financial losses because they are unable to find enough U.S. workers.
This move nearly doubles the usual annual cap of 66,000 visas. It mainly affects industries like construction, hospitality, landscaping, and seafood processing, where employers have long said they are struggling to find enough workers locally.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has pushed a sweeping immigration crackdown. He has repeatedly described undocumented immigrants as criminals and a burden on local communities. At the same time, his administration has tightened several legal immigration pathways, rolling out broad travel bans and increasing scrutiny of refugee and asylum cases.
This is not the first time the visa cap has been raised. The number of available visas was also expanded under former Democratic President Joe Biden, and during Trump’s earlier term in office from 2017 to 2021.
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Employers in seasonal industries, including hotels, have long pushed for more visas to fill open roles. Some construction companies have also said they are facing worker shortages during Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. At the same time, groups that support lower immigration levels oppose the program, arguing that it drives down wages for U.S. workers.
Trump has also tightened access to the H-1B program used by tech companies, adding a $100,000 fee that has already sparked a legal challenge.
According to the notice, a temporary rule to release the extra H-2B visas will be officially published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, as per Reuters.
This comes at a time when immigrant workers are facing growing hostility in and around their communities. On one hand, there are mass visa revocations, and on the other, the proposal to raise the visa cap sets the stage for a larger debate.