Issues

Immigration

Immigrants provide incredible value to our country, our culture, our economy, and our way of life. However, our current immigration system is broken and is in need of serious reform. The United States must immediately secure its borders, and must implement measures to ensure our borders remain protected. Additionally, we must fix the legal immigration process. The average citizenship application processing time for highly skilled immigrants, such as engineers or scientists, can exceed ten years. Our immigration system must focus on the thousands of highly skilled foreign nationals seeking education, economic opportunity, and jobs that help our economy. Also, as special immigration issues arise, such as from the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, America must step up and help with placements of individuals that meet our immigration policies. 

The H-2B visa program is crucial to on-shore fish processors in Alaska and to our national seafood supply. It is important for the fishing industry to have the workers it needs as it heads into the critical summer seafood season, especially with the current shortage of labor here in Alaska. These temporary, non-immigrant visas are fundamental to filling vacant jobs left unfilled by American labor, enabling seafood industries to hire seasonal workers and to continue operations. Processors must be ready and able to keep pace with the salmon run and their independent fishermen to provide our nation’s supply of sustainable, wild-caught Alaska salmon.