Alaska Senate advances resolution asking federal policymakers to protect visa programs

Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, speaks in the Alaska Senate on Monday, April 28, 2025. (ames Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By Haley Lehman

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska Senate advanced a resolution Monday to preserve three work visas to support Alaska’s economic security.

Alaska relies on J-1 visas to fill teacher positions, H-1B visas for highly skilled workers and the H-2B program for temporary nonagricultural workers in tourism, health care and seafood processing industries and for teachers.

Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, said that Senate Joint Resolution 28, “puts Alaska on the record in support of these programs to fill jobs here in our state.”

The Trump administration raised the fee for highly skilled worker visas from $5,000 to $100,000 in September 2025.

Tobin said Monday that school districts in Alaska cannot absorb those costs and utilize the H-1B visa program to hire international teachers.

The Alaska House of Representatives passed a resolution in March urging the Trump administration to waive the $100,000 visa fee for international teachers. It was sponsored by Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage.

According to Jennifer Schmitz, director of the Alaska Educator Retention and Recruitment Center, 20 school districts in Alaska employed 232 educators with J-1 visas and 341 educators with H-1B visas in 2025.

Alaska’s senior U.S. Senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, introduced legislation in March that would exempt teachers from non-processing related fees for H-1B visas. U.S. Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is a cosponsor. 

The visa programs support other jobs, too. Marilyn Usibelli, owner of Black Diamond Resort Co. in Healy, wrote to legislators in March that J-1 visa holders play an essential role in staffing seasonal jobs in Alaska with lawful, reliable temporary workers.

“Despite extensive local recruitment, the small year-round population in the Denali Borough simply cannot meet the seasonal demand. J-1 participants fill critical roles that allow us to maintain safe, high-quality operations, support other local businesses, and contribute to the broader Denali-area economy,” Usibelli wrote.

The resolution passed the Senate with 19 yes votes with Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, absent. 

• Haley Lehman graduated from James Madison University and reported for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.