What began in 1952 as a stopgap for seasonal labor has become a test case for U.S. immigration policy under President Trump.
The H-2B visa program has become a backbone of seafood processing and meatpacking, particularly in coastal states.
The number of H-2B visa holders working in meatpacking has increased 60% since 2016, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
The expansion has revealed a paradox: industries are increasingly reliant on foreign-born workers at the very moment federal officials are moving to scale back their access.
In the 1980s, Congress split the program in two, a track for seasonal farmworkers and a track for workers in other seasonally based jobs, such as hospitality.
The latter, H-2B, now supplies tens of thousands of foreign-born workers to seafood processors and meatpacking plants. Workers with H-2B visas have totaled more than 90,000 visas in the past decade.
The states with the largest concentration of visa holders are Alaska, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia. Visa holders work mainly in salmon, scallop and shrimp processing facilities in these states.
Seafood processors have benefited from the seasonally focused program since its inception, as the industry is seasonal, unlike other meat sectors.
Visa holders can also be found in more inland states working at pork processing plants in Minnesota and Oklahoma.
Trade groups have looked at increasing visa workers in industries that operate yearlong, like meat and dairy, in response to increased deportations carried out by the Trump administration.
Data Harvest (formerly Graphic of the Week) is Investigate Midwest’s way of making complex agricultural data easy to understand. Through engaging graphics, charts, and maps, we break down key trends to help readers quickly grasp the forces shaping farming, food systems, and rural communities. Want us to explore other data trends? Let us know here.
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