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www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation April 2017 7 program, an employer makes a strong commitment to abide by U.S. laws prohibiting the employment of illegal aliens. Every H-2B worker comes to the U.S. on a legal 9-month-long work visa, and he/she can only work for the employer who has been approved by three different federal agencies to employ H-2B workers. H-2B workers make a positive contribution to the U.S. economy and are not a burden on public services programs. They are subject to all U.S. income and payroll taxes. In addition, H-2B workers are not eligible to participate in social services programs, and, while it is technically possible that they can be accompanied by non-working spouses and children, it is rare that they bring families with them to the U.S. ■ The H-2B program is neither easy to negotiate nor cheap. It takes up to fi ve months to prepare, fi le and process an H-2B application through one state agency and three federal departments. Additionally, employers are regularly subjected to expensive and time-consuming Department of Labor compliance investigations. Employers of U.S. workers, especially illegal workers, don't incur these costs. ■ Finally, H-2B is capped at 66,000 visas per year. In other Building better landscape and lawn care businesses "I'm a member of NALP because I care deeply about industry development, workforces of the future, and government affairs. I know that my membership dues are helping to contribute to the future of our industry, which means the future of my business." ONE COMPANY AT A TIME landscapeprofessionals.org Brad Johnson, Lawn America words, nationally, only 66,000 foreign workers will be approved this year under the program. This means that H-2B accounts for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of total employment in this country, a fi gure too miniscule to have any impact on wages or U.S. job availability. Without the safety net that allows employers to apply for H-2B when local workers are unavailable, thousands of small business owners would be forced to cut back on their operations, lay off full time workers, and in the most drastic cases shutter their doors. Hopefully, with your help we can get Congress to embrace real-world facts rather than bias-driven fake news. When viewed through a factual lens, it seems pretty clear that the biggest problem with H-2B is that the arbitrarily imposed cap limits opportunities for American seasonal employers to expand their operations. Congress needs to understand that reality and that a strong and effective H-2B program is in the best interest of American workers and the U.S. economy. Paul Mendelsohn is vice president, government relations at the National Association of Landscape Professionals.