LEWISTON – Hotels, restaurants, apple orchards…and hockey teams.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ efforts to enforce a hard cap of 66,000 H2-B visas, which allow workers from other countries to legally earn wages here, have not only hampered the summer tourism and fall harvesting industries, but are now infringing on the sports world as well.

“The players on our team fall under the category of the H-2B visa,” Maineiacs Vice President and Governor Matt McKnight said.

“It’s the same type of visa that affects resorts and hotels and things of that nature. The only way to change the cap is through an act of Congress.”

While that may sound extreme, McKnight’s statement is not hyperbolic. He and the Mayors of Lewiston and Auburn, brothers Lionel and Normand Guay, have been in touch with Congressmen Mike Michaud and Tom Allen, and with Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Their hope is that Maine’s Congressional delegation will push for a bill to re-open the application process for the H-2B visa.

“They mentioned the problem to us,” Mayor Lionel Guay said. “We’ve taken the ball on this and called the Washington delegation and talked about what we can expect for a resolution.”

Last year, the U.S. granted 78,955 H-2B visas, which clearly exceeded the cap. This year, the agency enforced the cap, prompting Maine’s Congressional delegation to act.

“I have written letters to leaders of the House Judiciary Committee – the committee that has jurisdiction over the H-2B program – and to President Bush urging that they find ways to mitigate the serious effects this cap on H-2B visas is having on communities such as Lewiston-Auburn,” Representative Michael Michaud (D-Maine) said in a statement on Tuesday. “I have been working to provide relief for the Lewiston Maineiacs hockey team by searching for alternative visa categories that may fit their particular situation and advocating for bipartisan solutions within the Congress. My office is working with the mayors of Lewiston and Auburn, the team, and the team’s immigration lawyer to come up with a creative solution to their problem.”

The H2-B visa: What is it?

According to the U.S. Citizenship and immigration Services, the H2-B working visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows foreign nationals to enter into the country temporarily and engage in nonagricultural employment which is seasonal, intermittent, a peak load need, or a one-time occurrence. It goes on to note that the H-2B is also used for entertainers going on a tour, for film workers or for professional minor league players.

“The government’s fiscal year for this runs from October 1 to September 30,” McKnight said. “It would be fine if our schedule started in October, but where we start in September, and where the schedule is already made, it would make things very difficult on us.”

The cap itself was created seven years ago, and has never been raised, despite a sharp increase in demand for that particular visa.

“I know I have made several calls to Washington myself,” Mayor Normand Guay said. “We are stressing the financial impact of this more than anything. It’s not like they are coming here to take any jobs away. They are actually going to help create jobs by being here.”

Not the only one

The Lewiston Maineiacs are not the only team in the country affected by this visa cap. In the Western Hockey League, five teams make up an American Division, including teams from Seattle, Spokane, Everett and Kennewick, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In the Ontario Hockey League, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Saginaw and Plymouth, Michigan have teams, as well.

“Where we start so much later than the QMJHL does, it’s inconvenient, but it’s not that inconvenient,” Vice President and General Manager of the Tri-City Americans Bob Tory said. “All of the WHL teams will be in the same boat, as will the OHL.”

The difference is in the scheduling. In the WHL, the season does not start until late September, and games in the U.S. Division could begin later than the rest of the league without conflict. In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the schedule has already been agreed upon in principle, and the season starts much earlier.

“They have a luxury that we don’t have,” McKnight said. “And it doesn’t matter where we play, just the fact that they are working for a U.S.-based organization would make them in violation without the proper visas.”

Training camp, according to McKnight, is a different story, since the players come down without the expectation of being paid.

“They come to training camp and they are here as visitors, not employees,” McKnight said. “We can get them here for training camp, no problems.”

No worries

As far as the rest of the season, despite the current immigration issues, there is no reason to believe that the team will not be operational later this summer.

“There are by no means anything to worry about,” McKnight said. “Right now, we jumped on this early, and we want to do this through the proper channels. This is the visa they should be on. There are other options we can explore, though, but we have time so that we can try and do it this way first.”

“One way or another, we’ll get them here and we’ll play hockey,” Mayor Lionel Guay said. “No one has to worry about it and this shouldn’t deter anyone from purchasing season tickets. I’ve already got mine. We will have hockey here next season.”

Lawyers have told the five WHL teams that they expect the legislature will lift the cap.

“Our law firm tells us that they expect the cap to be lifted,” Tory said. “Mostly, that has to do with all of the agricultural jobs that will go un-filled if they don’t, and the impact that will have on the economy. Either way though, we don’t expect it to be that big of a problem.”

Other options include potentially brining the players to the United States on an educational visa, since they will be attending school here. The catch there is that the players would not be able to earn money while on that particular visa, but would at least be able to play in games associated with school.

“Everyone has really been behind us on this,” McKnight said. “The ways things work sometimes is you put things off because they seem so far out in the future, and then all of a sudden it’s right on top of you. That’s why we started this process so early. We can afford to wait a little bit if that’s what it will take.”

The Maineiacs are scheduled to open training camp in mid-August, and the season will start in mid-September. The league’s entry draft is in less than a month.

Staff Writer Christopher Williams contributed to this article.

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