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December 10, 2018

The Honorable R Alexander Acosta Secretary, United States Department of Labor And

Adele Gagliardi Administrator, Office of Policy Development and Research United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington DC 20210

In re: Comments of Community on Proposed “Modernizing Recruitment Requirements for the Temporary Employment of H‐2A Foreign Workers in the United States” Docket No. ETA‐2018‐0002, RIN 1205‐AB90

Dear Secretary Acosta and Administrator Gagliardi:

US workers deserve a fair chance at jobs before foreign workers are recruited. That is the law. We want to help the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security to make sure they get that chance.

That is why the undersigned publishing organizations are offering comments on importance of using community newspapers—both in print and digitally—to give our local workers notice before an employer seeks legal authority to hire abroad.

We are particularly focused on public notice to agricultural workers under the H‐2A program because the workers who need this notice are in our markets. They are our readers.

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires employers to make a meaningful effort to find US workers before they search beyond US borders. The effort today is weak because the thousands of weekly newspapers and websites in markets closest to the jobs are not being used in the search. The advertisements, required to be only in daily newspapers, are often published miles away from both the jobs and the workers. Now the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security want to permit an even less effective system by requiring notice only on broad job‐recruitment websites. This proposal will fail our national promise to America’s workers.

We are among the nation’s 7,000+ weekly and small daily newspapers. Most of us operate in small towns. Our circulations are smaller and our ad rates are far less costly than those of the metropolitan dailies that the Departments of Labor and Homeland Securities have studied in their research. Our pages are more closely read than any website. The word‐of‐mouth promotion that emanates from our readers more quickly penetrates our communities than the Internet does. We know our markets and can help employers find their workforce.

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Most of us have not received the H‐2A or H‐2B notices for our readers in the recent past. That is a mistake. But before junking a potentially useful system, why not add to the notice given US workers, rather than diminishing it? More can be done in a cost‐effective way by using all types of newspapers and their own websites.

Before terminating the advertising program operating under the H‐2A and H‐2B rules, we invite you to consider the following:

 In a 2017 survey of small towns by Susquehanna Polling And Research, Inc, residents overwhelmingly choose the community newspaper for local information. More than half (56%) rely upon the newspaper only. More than two‐thirds (68%) rely on the print and newspaper website together. Particularly for the H‐2A notices for agricultural workers, the advertising should focus on the media that rural residents read.

 Newspapers have websites as well as reliable print editions. Classified ads appear in both media. Our classifieds are widely available on the Internet.

 Our typical job recruitment ad costs under $200. In most cases, the cost is significantly less—and certainly not the $803 that DOL found for the “typical” newspaper ad.

 In every state, employers can easily choose their ad markets and their prices with one easy ad placement and one invoice. Each of our state press organizations provides this service, and can even coordinate ad placements between states.

 We provide affidavits as proof of publication to certify compliance with the law. If an employer loses his copy, we can still locate it. Rather than counting upon an employer to take and retain (or lose) a “screen shot” of an Internet ad, why not rely upon the permanence of print for compliance and also take advantage of the newspaper website for greater reach?

 Our newspapers remain available on coffee tables and newsracks, at libraries, in local schools and on our websites until the next issue comes out—usually a week at least. The job placement websites that the Departments propose may remain online, but it takes a sophisticated user to locate the right ad. As days pass, each ad sinks further and further below a home page and falls from view. Newspaper ads are easy to spot.

If the law intends to make it possible to avoid hiring local workers by allowing employers to go through the motions without doing a real search, the website proposal will do a great job. We do not think that is what the Departments are aiming to do. It would be better to increase public notice, not diminish it.

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We stand ready to perform our mission of informing the public. Please reconsider this proposal. We appreciate the opportunity to comment.

Signed,

Newspaper Name City State Ackley World Journal Ackley IA Ad Express & Centerville IA Advance‐Monticellonian Monticello AR Advertiser‐Courier Hermann MO Ajo Copper News Ajo AZ Allied News Grove City PA Anderson News, The Lawrenceburg KY Andover Townsman Andover MA Aransas Pass Progress Aransas Pass TX Arlington Sun Arlington SD Ashland Daily Independent Ashland KY Athens TX Atlanta Citizens Journal Atlanta TX Auburn Citizen Auburn IL Glasgow KY Batesville Herald Tribune Batesville IN Bedford Bulletin Bedford VA Benson County Farmers Press Minnewaukan ND Berthoud Weekly Surveyor Berthoud CO Blanco County News Blanco TX Bluefield Daily Telegraph Bluefield WV Bowie County Citizens Tribune New Boston TX Bowling Green Times Bowling Green MO Breckenridge American Breckenridge TX Brentwood Press Brentwood CA Brighton Standard Blade, The Brighton CO Bristow News Bristow OK Brunswick Beacon, The Shallotte NC Buffalo River Review Linden TN Burnet Bulletin Burnet TX Butler Banner‐Republican Morgantown KY Byron Review Byron MN Cadillac News Cadillac MI Calhoun News‐Herald Hardin IL Call News Citronelle AL Cameron Herald Cameron TX

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