From the Denver Post:

Ski industry pleads for increase in foreign worker visa program amid historically low unemployment

VAIL, CO – April 06: A …

By JASON BLEVINS | [email protected] | The Denver Post

June 4, 2017 at 12:01 am

The ski industry is wading into a political storm with a plea for the federal government to bolster its temporary visa program for foreign workers as it contends with a worker shortage.

As unemployment rates reach historic lows — especially in Colorado’s resort-centric high country — the National Ski Areas Association is imploring the secretary of Homeland Security to grow the number of immigrant H-2B visas for seasonal, unskilled workers, an overture that defies President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to put “America first.” …

“One would have to ignore reality to refuse to acknowledge that the ski industry — and all related businesses in rural mountain communities — are in critical need of help with finding reliable seasonal workers to staff our businesses,” reads an NSAA letter dated May 24 and sent to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and senators from Colorado, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming and Idaho. “In short, allowing more H-2B visa workers will not take away jobs from American workers, particularly in the ski industry.”

Amid the Trump administration’s calls to curtail immigration, the 1,700-page omnibus spending bill authorized by Congress last month included a provision that gives the secretary of Homeland Security the ability to grow the number of H-2B visas from its long-standing cap of 66,000 by an additional 70,000.