Some employers left short-staffed after visa program changes

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Some eastern Idaho businesses are struggling to find seasonal workers under new visa rules.

The Post Register reports that companies like MD Nursery and Landscaping, which does business in Driggs, Idaho and Jackson, Wyoming, applied for 62 foreign workers through the H-2B visa program but didn't get any. MD Nursery controller Mandi Wilkinson says it's been difficult for the company to deal with, forcing tough decisions about whether to take on new clients.

In recent years visas for non-agricultural workers who returned to their former employer didn't count among the total number of visas issued every year. MD Nursery and other companies used that exemption to hire the same foreign workers year after year. Now they can't unless they meet the requirements for new H-2B visas, including proving that they've tried to hire workers from the United States.

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Information from: Post Register, http://www.postregister.com