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Hyannis, MA - This year's backlog of H-2b visa applications at the U.S. Department of Labor prompted a letter from U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass.; to the agency's assistant secretary Emily Stover DeRocco Tuesday.
Delahunt urged the Labor Department to take "immediate steps" to clear up the delays, which some Cape and Islands employers and recruiters say now approaches three months.
About 5,000 workers come from abroad to the area each summer to fill jobs in the lodging, restaurant, landscaping and construction industries, Delahunt stated in his letter.
"In previous seasons the lack of an adequate seasonal labor force to close and created a host of other problems that affect the competitiveness of tourism in New England," Delahunt wrote.
Delahunt's office has received complaints about the delay at the Labor Department's Atlanta processing center for the past six weeks.
"Unfortunately the decision to send some applications to Chicago for processing appears to have occured too late to have any meaningful impact."
To view a copy of the letter, please click here.
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