Guam Contractors Association, others taking feds to court over H-2b visa denials

The Guam Contractors Association and other stakeholders are taking the feds to court over the denial of H-2b visas critical to construction projects on Guam.  The GCA is apparently is going to be filing a lawsuit against the United States Government for assistance with expediting the approval process for the H1, H-2b visas.

And while they might not be involved directly, during Friday's GEDA board meeting administrator Jay Rojas announced a lawsuit will be brought against the feds over the issue of H-2b visas. "GEDA and the administration are going in with full support behind this 2444 the governor has offered GEDA to assist in any way," he said.

While he was unavailable for an interview, GCA president James Martinez confirms a lawsuit is in the works. An immigration attorney assisting in the case tells KUAM News that the lawsuit will be filed on Monday. The lawsuit is against the US Attorney General's Office, the secretary for Department of Homeland Security, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the associate director of service center operations and the director of the California Service Center related to the denials of H-2b visas on Guam.

While they're not seeking any monetary compensation, they are requesting an injunction for immigration services to stop denying the applications. Along with the GCA, the other plaintiffs include companies representing the tourism and medical services industries, landscape, linen supply and a bakery. "In all honesty," said Rojas, "it's been a while since anybody from Guam has sued the federal government, government or entities, outside of District Court."

Meanwhile, both Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo and Governor Eddie Calvo have reached out to federal officials for relief. In an interview with KUAM News earlier this month, Guam Department of Labor Alien Labor Processing and Certification Division administrator Greg Massey says USCIS has not given reasoning behind the denials. He does however say since last year they've noticed drastic drops in approvals of H-2b workers.

In September, he said they had a 99.7% denial rate or the approvals of only two workers. He says with about 1,200 workers right now, they expect the numbers to dwindle to about 100 by the end of this year. "So if you're saying you're going to take away Guam's employers ability to supplement their workforces, you're going to see construction projects halt or slow down significantly and there's going to be that impact on the island," he said.