ABC Responds to Biden’s Executive Actions on Immigration

WASHINGTON, June 18—Associated Builders and Contractors today released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s executive actions on immigration.

“The U.S. construction industry faces a workforce shortage of more than half a million, and bipartisan solutions are imperative to address our legal immigration workforce needs,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC vice president of legislative & political affairs. “Today’s announcement makes it apparent how much our broken immigration system needs meaningful reform. Without a skilled workforce, contractors cannot build the places where we gather, work, learn and heal. ABC strongly believes that legal immigration reform is equally crucial for strengthening border security, fostering economic prosperity and providing high-demand industries, like construction, with solutions to workforce shortages.

“Commonsense solutions to address the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States include expansion of H-2B visas and reforms to the overall program,” said Swearingen. “Currently, the H-2B cap is too low to meaningfully improve the massive shortage of workers in construction and other industries, and that cap should be based on economic need. ABC calls on Congress to seek a permanent solution to raise the 66,000 arbitrary cap and reform the H-2B program that we continue to rely on the annual appropriations process to seek cap relief.”