The Bush administration wants to streamline the process of bringing foreign workers into the country for temporary nonagricultural employment, saying the current system takes too long and is too cumbersome for businesses desperately looking for employees. The Labor Department on Wednesday announced that it would propose changes to the H-2B visa program, which allows 66,000 temporary nonagricultural workers to enter the country every year. The proposals "will give the department additional tools to help protect employees as well as get employers out from under duplicative bureaucracies," Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said.
See "Labor Department proposing changes to seasonal foreign worker rules", Jesse J. Holland, Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 21, 2008