'Timing Is Critical': Susan Collins Asks Sonderling About Delays In Processing H-1B Visas

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]uh, very much and uh, I am going to turn uh, the first questioning over to the uh, chair of the full committee. We're very happy she's here.

[00:00:08]Uh, Senator Collins. Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Welcome to our our witness.

[00:00:16]Last year, the department paused operations at Job Corps centers across the country and halted them halted enrollment for time completely at Maine's two Job Centers.

[00:00:34]This caused significant uncertainty, distress, disruption for both the students and the staff.

[00:00:43]I am very familiar with both of the Job Corps centers in the state of Maine. One is in Bangor, where I live. The other is in Loring and Limestone in northern Maine, where I'm from.

[00:00:59]I know that they have a record of preparing students well to go directly into the workforce by giving them the skills that they need or to pursue higher education or to go directly into the military.

[00:01:19]In short, Job Corps provides young people with life-changing opportunities to develop workforce skills, earn credentials, and build a pathway to a successful future. I want to give you an example today. Joe's Josh was a chef who came to the Loring Job Corps Center in Limestone, Maine to pursue advanced cybersecurity training. After graduating from Job Corps, Joshua went on to the Northern Maine Community College, where he was recently named student of the year in recognition of his academic excellence, leadership, and service to the campus.

[00:02:07]Following graduation, Joshua will return to Loring Job Corps Center, where he has accepted a full-time position as the Job Corps Center's IT administrator.

[00:02:21]Stories like Joshua, who came from a very difficult background, shows the effectiveness of Job Corps in helping students turn around their lives and pursue successful careers. While Congress rejected soundly on a bipartisan basis last year's budget, which proposed elimination of Job Corps, the administration's actions have hurt Job Corps. For example, enrollment at Job Corps centers has fallen to roughly 55%.

[00:03:02]These disruptions raise serious concerns about the department's ability to fairly and accurately evaluate the program's effectiveness. When operations are paused and enrollments are halted, naturally participation rates, outcomes, and overall performance metrics are inevitably affected. I am very disappointed that the department's 2027 budget request once again proposes eliminating Job Corps. And part of the department's justification is the performance data that has been distorted that have been distorted by the department's own actions. You talk about eliminating ineffective, wasteful programs. None of us wants to fund any ineffective, wasteful programs, but I know that that is not an accurate description of Job Corps. In light of the disrupt the disruption that the department caused and the uncertainty about the future of Job Corps, how can you use the metrics of decreased enrollments to fairly and accurately evaluate this program?

[00:04:28]Well, I thank you, Senator, for that story. I mean, that's a really important story, and it's it's touching and those from our workforce development programs, those are the stories we want to hear.

[00:04:38]We want to see students get into these federally funded programs um from all different diverse backgrounds. Job Corps specifically 16 to 24, and they have success. And your centers in Maine, especially with ship building, um which is coming back um to Maine. It's coming to Connecticut. It's coming to uh Rhode Island. Uh that's the stories we want to hear how students are getting into these federally funded programs and being efficient. Um but a lot of the statistics that we've seen on Job Corps don't show that specific story that um you've told us. And we want more of those stories. So, the president's budget, while eliminating Job Corps, is moving money into the Make America Skills program to be able to still help students like that get into the specific programs they want and have that very specific successful outcome. And that's what we want to see in all of our programs across the board. Well, I'm glad that you mentioned the ship building pipe fitter program.

[00:05:32]That has been extraordinarily successful, and believe me, Bath Iron Works and other employers in Maine are so grateful for Job Corps providing that training, and those students go directly into the workforce filling a gap. So, I really think we need to take a second look at this. Let me just switch to one other issue in the time I have remaining.

[00:06:03]And that has to do with the H-2B visas.

[00:06:06]I realize the role of the Department of Homeland Security, but the Department of Labor plays a critical role here as well. Last year in the state of Maine, we had more than 13 million tourists visit the state. We are a state of 1.3 million people. So, 10 times the population of Maine visited our state. And naturally, when you have that kind of disparity, employers in Maine simply cannot find the workers to meet the demand during peak months. And these tourists spend 9.4 billion dollars in our state last year alone. This is incredibly important to our economy. So, H-2B visas are absolutely critical to fill this gap.

[00:07:06]But just this morning, I met with two hotel owners who described the problems that they had. I continually hear from employers about the delays in the processing of H-2B applications.

[00:07:22]And for many of these businesses, timing is critical and delays can have serious economic consequences. I think, personally, that an employer who has a good record of 5 years of complying with all the laws, that we shouldn't count that employer against the numbers. And I also think we should bring back the Bush administration's returning worker program where someone who had worked 1 year, gone back home, came back, gone back home, doesn't count against the cap. And it's my understanding the administration is open to those changes.

[00:08:08]But what steps is the Department of Labor taking to improve the timely processing of H-2B visa applications so that employers in Maine can access the workers they need in time to meet the seasonal demand? I was able to travel with the Vice President to Maine last week, so I saw how beautiful it is this time of year, and I understand the economy really relies on those H-2B B visas, especially in the summer. The President's budget does propose a new office at the Department of Labor called the Office of Immigration Policy. It pulls some of our immigration work out of other agencies to have one centralized source to not only be able to process faster, but really have that customer service for workers, for employers who need these temporary work visas. So we're very committed to that.

[00:08:58]It's been a big effort effort of ours in this administration to make sure that seasonal workers have a process and have a dedicated office to be able to move that forward.

[00:09:08]I look forward to working with you on that. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[00:09:12]Thank you. Senator Baldwin.

[00:09:13]Thank you.