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Camacho urges DOD engagement in H-2B visa problems for Guam
Former governor seeks Carter's intervention to support Guam Buildup Program and related federal agencies workforce demands
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Posted on Oct 10 2016
Felix P. Camacho
Republican Guam delegate candidate Felix P. Camacho has sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter to appraise him on the denials of temporary foreign worker visas and the impacts on the timelines and budget of the Guam Buildup Program and related projects of sister agencies of the federal government.
Camacho is seeking intervention by Carter, who as deputy secretary first visited Guam in July 2012 and was chairman of the Economic Adjustment Committee of the U.S. Department of Defense.
“In December 2015, the approval rate for H-2B visas was almost 100 percent while now the denial rate is almost 100 percent,” wrote Camacho. “The total reversal has impacted local development, the health care services and operations at Guam Memorial Hospital and the recently opened Guam Regional Medical City Hospital, and your Military Construction program for Guam. There have been no major regulatory or policy changes that can account for the total H-2B visa waiver reversal.”
Camacho spearheaded planning efforts between the government of Guam and the federal government since before the signing of the U.S.-Japan Roadmap for Realignment Implementation in 2006 until the end of his term as governor of Guam in December 2010.
Camacho wrote that because of the increased denial rate, construction firms in Guam have had to send a significant percentage of their H-2B workforce back to their respective home countries, compromising recently awarded DOD and other federal contracts.
“It is not unreasonable that the favorable bidding environment will change, since the construction contractors will be forced to pass on the risk associated with the uncertainty or unpredictability of the use of H-2B workforce,” wrote Camacho. “Having worked closely with the Department of Defense for six years, I understand the challenges and difficulties of having to go before the U.S. Congress to explain and justify program cost escalation.”
