Trump allows 15,000 new visas for seasonal workers
Shortage of American workers sees temporary foreign worker limits relaxed
(L-R) Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump attend an official ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Trump International Hotel in Washington U.S., October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
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July 17, 2017 5:09 pm by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
The Trump administration will let US companies hire more foreign workers as they struggle to find Americans to work in hotels, restaurants and other seasonal jobs.
John Kelly, secretary of homeland security, on Monday announced the decision to increase the number of H-2B visas — permits for seasonal workers in non-agricultural sectors — to 81,000, a rise of 15,000 from a congressional annual cap of 66,000.
“Congress gave me the discretionary authority to provide temporary relief to American businesses at risk of significant harm due to a lack of available seasonal workers,” Mr Kelly said.
The retired general added that the administration was allowing a “one-time increase” to show its “commitment to supporting American businesses”. To qualify for the visas, companies must certify that they would suffer “irreparable harm” unless they can hire more foreign workers for seasonal jobs.
While Donald Trump campaigned on a series of tough immigration policies, he came under pressure during the race after it emerged that his properties used H-2B visas. “It’s very, very hard to get people,” Mr Trump said during one of the presidential debates.
Dave Lapan, spokesperson for the homeland security department, said his agency did not know if the Trump Organisation would take advantage of the increased cap to hire more seasonal workers at locations such as Mar-a-Lago, the president’s Florida resort which has been dubbed the Winter White House.
The move to allow more H-2B visas comes as the administration considers changes to the H-1B visa system that brings highly-skilled foreign workers to the US. The White House recently invited a number of technology company chief executives, including Tim Cook of Apple, for a brainstorming session that included the H-1B policy.
Critics accused the Trump administration of a major policy reversal. Roy Beck, head of NumbersUSA, a group that opposes immigration, said it threatened “to reverse the trend of reports emerging around the country of employers working harder and raising pay to successfully recruit more unemployed Americans for lower-skilled jobs”.
Mr Beck added that it was “yet another example of the administration and Congress failing to keep the Trump campaign promise of putting American workers first”.
US officials rejected claims that the move ran counter to Mr Trump’s “America First” and “Buy American, Hire American” philosophy. They said it would protect US jobs by ensuring companies would not go out of business due to a lack of staff.
