Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today advanced an increase in the number of H-2B visas through an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill. The provision would give DHS the authority to add up to 64,716 additional visas in FY2022 which could nearly double the number of H-2B visas available next year to seasonal businesses in Maine… Read more »
Today, Reps. Chellie Pingree (ME-01) and Jared Golden (ME-02) joined a group of members of Congress from New England border states urging Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to safely reopen the U.S.-Canadian border.
“Since the land border between the United States and Canada was closed on March 21, 2020, families have been divided, tourists… Read more »
In a letter sent today to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today expressed her ongoing concern with the relocation and expansion of an ICE facility from South Portland to Scarborough. Pingree first requested a delay in opening the facility in March 2020, citing… Read more »
Following a push spearheaded by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a joint rule today making available an additional 22,000 H-2B visas that will help small businesses fill seasonal job openings. Qualifying employers can begin… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today voted in favor of the NO BAN Act, important legislation that would prevent any future president from implementing a xenophobic immigration ban such as former President Trump’s Muslim Ban. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives 218 to 208.
“The Muslim Ban only served to stoke xenophobia and senselessly cut thousands of… Read more »
U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) and Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to increase the number of H-2B visas to help small businesses fill seasonal job openings for the upcoming season.
The letter calls on Secretary Mayorkas to increase the existing 66,000 H-2B visa cap to 135,320,… Read more »
Last night, Congresswoman Pingree joined more than 70 Members of Congress in opposing the Trump administration's new proposed regulation that will dramatically rewrite our nation's asylum laws. The rule, published jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) on June 15, 2020, would eliminate long-established procedural protections… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01) welcomed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s announcement that 35,000 additional H-2B visas will be released but expressed frustration that the number is still is not enough to meet the needs of Maine’s seasonal businesses and that it contains new measures that could limit Maine employers’ access to needed workers. Pingree said as a… Read more »
U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) and U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today led a bicameral, bipartisan group of their colleagues, including Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine), in a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf urging the administration to immediately increase the statutory cap of H-2B visas… Read more »
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today voted to pass H.R. 5038, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, of which she is a cosponsor. The bipartisan bill is immigration reform legislation designed to support farm businesses who rely on H-2A visas to fill positions in a tight labor market and allow long-time agricultural workers in the U.S. to… Read more »
