New visa opens carnival jobs to foreign workers, sidelining American fair workers

What it does

This bill creates a new temporary work visa (P-4) for foreign workers in mobile entertainment—carnivals, circuses, and traveling fairs—allowing them to enter the U.S. if the Department of Labor certifies there are insufficient domestic workers available and their employment won't depress wages or working conditions for American workers. The bill also permits spouses and children of visa holders to accompany them.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: it creates a new temporary visa category for carnival and circus workers, contingent on DOL labor-market certification. The mechanism is plainly stated, though the certification standard itself is permissive and historically favors employer interests over domestic worker protection.

What the text implies

• The 'not sufficient workers' standard does not require employers to offer competitive wages or conditions to attract domestic labor—only that workers are unavailable at the employer's offered terms, creating a wage-suppression pathway.
• Mobile entertainment is highly seasonal and temporary; workers in this sector often lack stable employment and benefits. Importing foreign labor may further destabilize domestic worker attachment and bargaining power.
• The bill permits spouses and children to accompany visa holders, potentially creating a secondary labor pool (family members) who may work informally or off-the-books in the carnival/fair ecosystem.
• DOL certification is required but the bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms, audit frequency, or penalties for false certification, creating a compliance-light regime.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill creates a new labor-supply channel that may suppress wages and working conditions for American carnival and fair workers by importing foreign labor on a temporary basis, even with DOL certification requirements. The certification standard—'not sufficient workers who are able, willing, and qualified'—is historically permissive and does not require employers to recruit or retain domestic workers at competitive wages; it only requires a finding that workers are unavailable at the offered t

Who stands to gain

• carnival and circus operators
• traveling fair and festival organizers
• mobile entertainment service providers (food, game, novelty concessions)

Named in the bill

Department of Homeland Security, Department of Labor, Immigration and Nationality Act, carnival operators, circus operators, state and county fairs, not-for-profit organizations

Where it stands

6 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans, 1 Independents.

• Apr 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Apr 3, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $3,640,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 104 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Thom Tillis, the sponsor, reported $973,475 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Association for Justice — $3,610,000 on 2 filings
• Perpetua Resources, Corp. — $30,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.