Trump administration nearly doubles guest visa program, which brings many Mexican workers

Trump administration nearly doubles guest visa program, which brings many Mexican workers

President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security nearly doubled the number of temporary guest worker visas available this summer. DHS and the Labor Department plan to grant an additional 30,000 H-2B visas this summer on top of the 33,000 H-2B visas they had planned to give out, the agencies confirmed.

With the additional visas, the Trump administration is on track to grant 96,000 H-2B visas this fiscal year, the most since 2007, when George W. Bush was president. The H-2B visa is for foreign workers to come to the United States and work for several months at a company such as a landscaper, amusement park or hotel.

A major theme of Trump’s presidential campaign was that foreign workers were stealing U.S. jobs, but lately he has said it might be necessary to bring in more guest workers because the economy is doing so well that companies can’t find enough people to fill jobs.

Trump’s own hotels have used H-2B workers. Advocates for U.S. workers claim Trump is undermining domestic workers by granting so many H-2B visas to foreign workers. The Center for Immigration Studies said Trump “betrays American workers” with this H-2B visa increase.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/06/trump-administration-nearly-doubles-h-b-guest-visa-program-which-brings-many-mexican-workers/?utm_term=.f08b609cc50b