The Administration has extended the H2-B Visa Program by issuing 22,000 additional non-agricultural worker visas over and above the 66,000 established by Congress.  This program has bipartisan support and follows cancellation of 35,000 H-2B visas authorized in 2020 that were placed in abeyance due to COVID.  Of the supplementary quota, 6,000 visas will be assigned to workers from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.  Workers will be eligible to take jobs in landscaping, construction, the hospitality industry and in red-meat packing plants and chicken processing facilities.

In commenting on the additional visas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas noted, "setting aside visas for Central Americans reflects the Administration's goal of expanding lawful pathways for opportunity in the United States.  Illegal immigrants from the three nations represent half of the migrants apprehended the U.S. Southwest border.  Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield representing the U.S. at the U.N. stated, "five million people in Central America don't have enough food, they need security, economic opportunity and access to food to feed their families".  These comments were made in the context of humanitarian aid to Central America.