Thread: Trump to Make Available 30,000 More Visas for Seasonal Workers

Trump Administration to Make Available 30,000 More Visas for Seasonal Workers

Congress has typically capped the number of seasonal worker visas issued each year at 66,000.

By Claire Hansen, Staff Writer May 6, 2019, at 2:19 p.m.


Government OKs 30K More H-2B Visas



The Trump administration said Monday it would allow 30,000 additional seasonal workers into the U.S. this summer.

AP PHOTO/ELISE AMENDOLA

THE TRUMP administration on Monday announced it will allow 30,000 more seasonal workers into the U.S. this summer, citing concerns that some U.S. businesses risk closing their doors without an increase.

A temporary rule to issue the extra visas, known as H-2Bs, was released by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor. It confirms earlier reports that the agencies were planning a significant increase.

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To get the visas, businesses will have to prove that they would suffer "irreparable harm" without extra workers. Only seasonal workers who have been previously cleared in the last three years will be eligible, and employers can start petitioning for the visas on behalf of their workers when the temporary rule is published in the Federal Register, likely on Wednesday.

Fisheries, horticulture companies and seasonal resorts rely on the visa program, as do other industries.

The rule exposes the tension between the Trump administration's efforts to curb both legal and illegal immigration and the demands of a strong economy with low unemployement. President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that legal immigration hurts American workers and drives down wages.

Congress has typically capped the number of the temporary visas at 66,000 a year – 33,000 for summer and for winter – though the Trump administration has raised that number by 15,000 in each of the last two years. Businesses and others have routinely asked Congress to expand or eliminate the cap on H-2Bs.

In a statement announcing the rule, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan urged Congress to revamp its rules on H-2B visas.

"Congress – not DHS – should be responsible for determining whether the annual numerical limitations for H-2B workers set by Congress need to be modified and by how much, and for setting parameters to ensure that enough workers are available to meet employers' temporary needs throughout the year," McAleenan said.

https://www.usnews.com/news/national...asonal-workers

BORDER PATROL CHIEF SAYS AGENCY HAS MADE OVER 30,000 ARRESTS IN THE PAST 10 DAYS

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

"Congress – not DHS – should be responsible for determining whether the annual numerical limitations for H-2B workers set by Congress need to be modified and by how much, and for setting parameters to ensure that enough workers are available to meet employers' temporary needs throughout the year," McAleenan said.

Blaming Congress as he makes the announcement.

Straight out of the Donald J Trump Art of the Con book.

Back to the Chain Gang!

Put our low risk prisoners to work, give them a wage, put in Escrow for when they get out!

Many have child support to pay!

THEY CAN WORK ALL YEAR LONG!!!

TAKE THAT JARED KUSHNER AND IVANKA!!!

NO MORE FOREIGN WORKERS!

You don't increase American citizen wages by increasing foreign labor.

US to allow 30,000 more visas for seasonal workers, including Trump's Mar-a-Lago





By COLLEEN LONG

| ASSOCIATED PRESS |

MAY 06, 2019 | 5:30 PM
| WASHINGTON







Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on President Trump's budget request for Fiscal Year 2020 on May 2, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Patrick Semansky / AP)




The Trump administration plans to let an additional 30,000 foreigners return to the United States through September for seasonal work, a move that reflects how the booming economy has complicated President Donald Trump's hard-line efforts on immigration.


Details of the plan were in a draft rule obtained by The Associated Press. It would benefit oyster shucking companies, fisheries, loggers and seasonal hotels — including Trump's own Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. All use the visas to hire migrants for temporary work they say Americans won't do.


The visas, known as H-2Bs, will go only to returning foreign workers who have had the visa before, over the past three budget years. Many go back to the same employers year after year. Those workers have had background checks, are trusted and are not likely to stay past their visa, officials said.


U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin taking applications from employers on behalf of the workers once the temporary rule is published in the Federal Register. That is expected Wednesday.

• POLITICS

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago wants to hire dozens of foreign workers
JUL 06, 2018 | 11:40 AM







The strong U.S. economy has made it increasingly difficult for employers to find labor. The number of seasonal visas has been capped at 66,000 per budget year. Some businesses and lawmakers say that limit is badly outdated, especially when the unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in 49 years .


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Employers say they desperately need more labor, pitting businesses against people inside and outside the White House who say the visas take away American jobs. Trump has benefited from both seasonal workers and people working in the country illegally at his golf clubs.


Within the White House, adviser Stephen Miller and others want to restrict immigration, including reducing visas for high-skilled workers and suspending or limiting entry to the U.S. for individuals from countries with high rates of short-term visa overstays.


Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has been working on his own overhaul for months, aiming for immigration and border security changes that Republicans can rally around heading into the 2020 presidential election.


Trump had once railed against the flow of foreign workers and argued, despite conflicting evidence, that foreigners hurt American workers by competing for jobs and driving down wages. But Trump now says he favors more legal immigration because of economic gains on his watch.


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Trump said in his State of the Union speech this year that he wanted people "to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally."


A spokeswoman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports restricting immigration, tweeted that Trump, with the temporary visa worker plan, was selling out to cheap foreign labor.


But the National Thoroughbred Racing Association of Lexington, Kentucky, which represents scores of racetrack operators, owners, breeders and trainers, said many trainers "will no doubt qualify for these visas because of the labor shortage that is now the norm on racetrack backstretches," according to the group's president, Alex Waldrop.


The debate has played out in Congress, too. Two bipartisan groups sending letters to the Homeland Security Department: one urged an increase in the number of temporary visas and one expressed concern over a possible increase.


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Officials from the departments of Homeland Security and Labor said the decision to allocate the visas was based in part on the fact some businesses could face irreparable harm if they can't employ the workers. The departments have jointly decided to raise the cap during the past two budget years, but it was only 15,000 more in those years.

• OPINION

Trump opposes foreign worker visas — except for Mar-a-Lago | Fred Grimm
JUL 13, 2018 | 7:00 AM







The acting Homeland Security secretary, Kevin McAleenan, said the additional visas were a temporary fix.


He said his department wants lawmakers "to pursue a long-term legislative fix that both meets employers' temporary needs while fulfilling" Trump's executive orders on American buying and hiring.


According to the most recent government data on visa approvals, half of the temporary visas went to horticultural and agricultural workers. Food service, forestry and logging work and fisheries, hunter trappers made up the bulk of the rest of the 2017 visas.


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Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Angus King, I-Maine, along with Reps. Andy Harris, R-Md., and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and about 25 other bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to Homeland Security this year saying they were working on a solution for the visa cap, but until then the increase was badly needed.


But a separate bipartisan group of senators, including Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote last month they were concerned the visas enabled worker exploitation and fostered human trafficking and debt bondage because of the fees associated with the visas. Combined travel and visa costs can run into the thousands of dollars.


"Americans working alongside H-2B visa holders can find it difficult to compel employers to abide by federal and state labor and employment laws," the senators wrote.

• Immigration
• Donald Trump
• Angus King
• Chuck Grassley
• Chellie Pingree
• Palm Beach

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/po...506-story.html

THEY JUST WANT TO HIRE SLAVES and continue to bring new ones in every year while the old ones never go home.

We have MILLIONS homeless on our streets...where is TRUMP plan to employ them at Mar-a-Lago and in to these jobs???

Where is TRUMP plan to get our homeless in affordable housing, FEMA trailers, or temporary Tent Cities in exchange for WORKING until they get on their feet! We have thousands of Shipping Containers that can be converted into temporary housing for American's...NO housing for illegal aliens or their offspring!

We have empty lots all over this country to put inexpensive temporary housing for American's in EXCHANGE for staying employed.

Where is TRUMP plan to allow Senior's to work to supplement their Social Security and give them tax breaks! They are dependable workers, they have job skills, they have morals! Let them work without penalty!

Where is TRUMP plan getting American kids into summer jobs and fill these positions!

NO MORE FOREIGNERS UNTIL OUR HOMELESS PROBLEM IS CLEANED UP!!!