Seasonal Workers are
Key to Our Businesses
Mackinac Island’s year round population is just 476 people, but requires seasonal workers amounting to 4,500 workers. These seasonal laborers make the Mackinac Island industry—tourism—possible.
Federal immigration legislation provides for foreign guest workers to staff seasonal businesses when U.S. workers cannot be found. However, current federal law contains arbitrary caps and illogical limitations that make it very hard for Mackinac Island seasonal businesses to find workers. We need permanent, sensible legislation that allows our businesses to succeed and continue to serve as the economic base for our community. In addition, the cap on foreign guest workers must be increased for the 2020 season.
The MITB-PAC supports members of Congress who will work to address the unique problems faced by Mackinac Island businesses in obtaining adequate foreign workers while still protecting the rights of the American workforce.