In 2014, when Ian Miller heard about the Construction Ready program at Westside Works in Atlanta, he thought it was a “money ploy” to get grants to support its own staff, rather than train participants for entry-level jobs.
The federal government has raised the limit on visas for temporary or seasonal workers in nonagricultural industries by as many as 15,000, or 23%, but employers seeking them must state, under penalty of perjury, that their businesses are “likely to suffer irreparable harm” without the new workers.