Trump administration OKs extra 15,000 temporary workers for U.S. biz
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will allow 15,000 workers to come into the U.S. this budget year under temporary, seasonal work visas.
The extra H-2B visas are for non-agriculture workers for seasonal jobs at a variety of businesses, including resorts. They will be available to companies that can demonstrate that their businesses would be harmed if they can't temporarily hire foreigner workers.
The Trump Organization is among the businesses that use the visas. The 64 temporary workers there this year earn between $10 to $13 an hour, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Earlier this year Congress voted to allow Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to offer more than the annual limit of 66,000 such visas. Though President Donald Trump has taken a hard line stance on immigration, legal and otherwise, Kelly said the decision to add visas was a "demonstration of the administration's commitment to supporting American businesses."
He said the additional visas were a "one-time extension" of the visa cap set by Congress.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump promised to "end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program," referring to visas for skilled employees. He said he would "institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers for every visa and immigration program."
A notice about the extra H-2B visas will be posted later this week in the Federal Register.