NAHB Opposes H-2B Bill that Targets the Construction Industry
In a pre-emptive move, NAHB has joined a group of 11 other leading organizations in the construction industry to send a letter to Senate and House leaders that strongly opposes pending legislation by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) that would impose harmful and unjustified restrictions on access to the H-2B temporary seasonal visa program by employers in the construction industry.
Any day now, the two senators will introduce the Seasonal Employer Protection Act of 2023, legislation that targets the construction sector at a time when the residential construction industry is facing a severe labor shortage.
The H-2B temporary visa program is presently the only legal program of its kind available to construction industry employers. NAHB is deeply concerned that Congress would consider banning any industry employers from utilizing a legal program to hire legal foreign-born workers. The bill specifically targets the housing industry by including language that prohibits multifamily developers from employing H-2B visa holders if their company is not part of a collective bargaining agreement.
As NAHB and other construction organizations stated in their letter to leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, “the multifamily and commercial construction sectors are particularly targeted for exclusion in this legislation, which would arbitrarily harm such businesses, increase costs and ultimately exacerbate the housing affordability crisis already ravaging the market, further disadvantaging low- and moderate-income individuals.”
Given the severe workforce shortages in the construction industry, NAHB and the other construction organizations have long supported the development of fair, efficient, and workable temporary visa programs that will create legal pathways for temporary workers to enter the United States, as well as a robust process by which all employers can apply to hire those workers.
But as we forcefully stated to lawmakers, “the language [in this bill] was developed without data or justification, [and] based on no conversation with the construction industry sector employers who are impacted by it.”
By limiting the ability of construction industry employers to utilize the program, the proposed legislation stands to harm the many thousands of U.S. workers whose workflow and continued employment often depend on the supplemental H-2B workers who fill out their teams during high-demand periods and peak seasons. Seasonal workers support many upstream and downstream American jobs, and add to economic growth in all industries, including the construction industry.
While NAHB will aggressively fight to kill the Seasonal Employer Protection Act of 2023, we also believe the current statutory cap of 66,000 annual H-2B visas is woefully inadequate to meet current demand in today’s economy in which workforce shortages are becoming ever more acute.
Therefore, NAHB supports sensible reforms to make the program more effective, and we continue to hope to be part of a constructive dialogue that makes progress on this issue in a way that supports all U.S. employers and workers.
Latest from NAHBNow
Oct 29, 2025
Do Consumers Want Two-Story Foyers?Nearly a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer in 2024 — a number that has been trending downward over the past eight years. Though the national decline continued, regional patterns were mixed. See where this feature is hot — and where it's not.
Oct 29, 2025
How to Market to and Design for the Aging-in-Place ClientNAHB will host three webinars (open to members and non-members) in November to teach the technical, business management, and customer service skills necessary to complete modifications for aging-in-place.
Latest Economic News
Oct 29, 2025
The Fed Cuts amid Partly Cloudy ConditionsWith the government shutdown limiting the quantity of economic data available to markets and policymakers, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) enacted a widely anticipated 25 basis point cut for the short-term federal funds rate.
Oct 28, 2025
Home Price Growth SlowsHome prices in August grew at the lowest annual rate in over two years, according to the recent release of the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index (seasonally adjusted – SA).
Oct 27, 2025
Two-Story Foyer Trend Stabilizes in 2024In 2024, nearly a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer, virtually unchanged from 2023, according to data obtained from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB.