Colorado’s H-2A and H-2B Workers in Fiscal Year 2021

Current U.S. immigration law allows foreign workers to enter the United States workforce through different pathways to compliment the U.S.-born workforce and help fill labor shortages. Two of those pathways, the H-2A and H-2B visa programs, allow U.S. employers to tap into the skillsets of foreign workers to help fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs across the country, from vegetable and melon farming, to landscaping services and skiing facilities.

Two new factsheets from the American Immigration Council, Colorado’s H-2A Workers in Fiscal Year 2021 and Colorado’s H-2B Workers in Fiscal Year 2021 provide data on the different steps in the H-2A and H-2B processes to inform policymakers and advocates of the demand for temporary agricultural and nonagricultural workers in the Centennial State. Some key highlights from the research include:

• There was a high demand for H-2A and H-2B workers in Colorado. In FY 2021 in Colorado, 249 employers looking to fill 3,562 agricultural jobs through the H-2A program and 257 employers looking to fill 8,403 jobs through the H-2B program initially submitted applications for temporary employment certification to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
• The share of H-2A and H-2B workers in Colorado that were certified by DOL was higher than the national certification rate. In FY 2021, 97.9 percent of H-2A workers and 93.6 percent of H-2B workers in Colorado were certified by DOL, compared to a national certification rate of 96.1 percent and 88.1 percent, respectively.
• Many industries received USCIS approval for H-2A and H-2B workers to be employed in Colorado. In FY 2021, as the next step in this process, 41 industries requesting H-2A workers and 52 industries requesting H-2B workers received USCIS approval for employment.
• In FY 2021, many industries that are key to the Colorado economy were among those that had the highest share of certified H-2A and H-2B workers in Colorado. The industries with the highest share of certified H-2A workers were vegetable and melon farming and fruit and tree nut farming. The industries with the highest share of certified H-2B workers included landscaping services, hotels and motels, and skiing facilities.

More on the demand for H-2A and H-2B workers in Colorado here:

• Colorado's H-2A Workers in Fiscal Year 2021
• Colorado's H-2B Workers in Fiscal Year 2021