A group of plaintiffs including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, lawn, landscape, and forestry companies and associations have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, seeking to block a sweeping new Labor Department rule drastically rewriting the H-2B temporary and seasonal non-agricultural visa program. H-2B is widely used by the landscape industry and other interests to fill seasonal labor needs when too few American workers apply for such jobs. The plaintiffs in Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services et al. vs. Solis seek a temporary restraining order to block the rule from taking effect as scheduled on April 23. ANLA and many state partners have assisted with the effort to challenge the rule; the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association recently contributed $5000 to the ANLA Beacon Fund to assist with the litigation.

“The Labor Department and union allies are destroying the only labor safety net available to many green industry firms,” said ANLA vice president for government relations, Craig Regelbrugge. ANLA is also urging members to support two Congressional resolutions of disapproval on the new H-2B rule. For more, visit www.capwiz.com/anla.home.

Bert Lemkes, co-owner of Van Wingerden Intl., Mills River, NC is testifying today before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement. The subcommittee is holding a hearing on the E-Verify program, and identity theft issues. Lemkes’ growing operation, which employs 350 people at peak season, is using the federal E-Verify program and has learned first-hand of challenges it poses for agricultural employers. Lemkes cautioned Subcommittee members that making E-Verify mandatory without broader reforms could have the opposite of its intended effect, since false documents that feature a legitimate name and Social Security number routinely clear the E-Verify system now. It would also deprive greenhouses, nurseries, and farms of much of their labor force.