Migrant labor shortage shakes pro-Trump small biz

It’s a complaint echoed by crab processors in Maryland, innkeepers and lobster restaurants in Maine and Texas shrimpers who couldn’t get enough workers under the H2-B visa “guest worker” program for nonagricultural workers. East End farmers also are stymied by “a tremendous shortage of labor for low-skilled jobs,” said Long Island Farm Bureau president Karl Novak in a recent discussion of immigration policy with Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), according to Riverhead Local.Even before unemployment hit a 17-year low, Devine said he couldn’t find enough dependable, drug-free U.S. workers. He relied on H2-B for seasonal help, mostly from Guatemala. Recently, he lost a $100,000 account for lack of manpower. The visas were awarded by lottery for the first time this year instead of first-come, first-served. Crab houses in Maryland that weren’t lucky are idle. Local economies are suffering. “The Mexican labor creates jobs for Americans. It’s creating my job,” fisherman Burl Lewis, who sells bait to crabbers, told The Wall Street Journal.Homeland Security plans to issue 15,000 more H2-B visas, but some businesses say by the time eligible migrants could make the trek north, it will be too late.