Trump's tougher immigration policy extends to workers post-Harvey

Source: Reuters

#POLITICS SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 / 12:52 PM / AN HOUR AGO

Trump's tougher immigration policy extends to workers post-Harvey

Yeganeh Torbati
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration, in line with its tough immigration policy, is keeping red tape in place that could make it harder for immigrants in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey to find jobs with contractors, a decision critics say is likely to slow the Gulf Coast’s recovery.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Republican President George W. Bush temporarily exempted employers hiring Katrina victims from verifying that new employees were authorized to work in the United States. The 45-day suspension allowed survivors whose identification documents had been lost during the storm to work while awaiting new ones, but it also allowed undocumented immigrants to quickly find jobs with contractors.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement on Wednesday that while it will expedite the replacement of lost documents for storm victims, employment verification requirements will remain in place, a move that drew both praise and scorn from politicians and others.

“With so much rebuilding needed, we should make it easier for folks to get back to work,” said Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat whose constituency includes parts of southeast Texas. “Unfortunately, always overflowing with anti-immigrant hysteria, the Trump administration is choosing red tape and bureaucracy instead of learning lessons from past disasters.”

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-immigration/trumps-tougher-immigration-policy-extends-to-workers-post-harvey-idUSKCN1BC5GC