He Closes the Country to
Immigrants, Except the Ones He Regularly Hires and Fires
By
David Cay Johnston, DCReport Editor-in-Chief
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| Featured imaged:” Trump and his Mar-a-Lago staff, photographed for Vanity Fair magazine (Getty Images). The image is used on the Mar-a-Lago Staff parody Twitter feed. |
Donald Trump’s new ban
on new immigration is designed to make sure he can continue to hire foreign
workers at Mar-a-Lago and his other properties, denying jobs to the Americans
he claims to care about.
During the five
o’clock follies Tuesday, Trump said “by pausing immigration we will help put
unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America reopens—so important.
It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by any new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker—take care of the American worker.”
It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by any new immigrant labor flown in from abroad. We must first take care of the American worker—take care of the American worker.”
But less than a minute
later, Trump added a self-serving caveat:
The ban applies “only
to people seeking permanent residency,” he said, citing holders and seekers of
green cards. He said the ban on immigrant workers does “not apply to those
entering on a temporary basis.”
Trump has made extensive use of both foreign workers entering the United States legally with a temporary visa and illegally.
Trump has made
extensive use of both foreign workers entering the United States legally with a
temporary visa and illegally.
At Mar-a-Lago, for example, close to 80 workers—chambermaids,
wait staff, bartenders and others—are foreign workers. They can be fired,
forcing them to immediately leave the country.
This imbalance of power ensures the foreign staff are almost certain to submit to hostile work conditions. In turn, that gives Trump and his managers tremendous control over these workers.
This imbalance of power ensures the foreign staff are almost certain to submit to hostile work conditions. In turn, that gives Trump and his managers tremendous control over these workers.
There are at least
4,000 qualified resort workers who each year seek employment but cannot even
get job interviews at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump got around the requirement to offer these Americans jobs by posting employment notice in a small classified ad in local newspapers with no mention of Mar-a-Lago. Applicants had to file resumes by fax, a technology few low-paid tourism industry workers own.
Trump got around the requirement to offer these Americans jobs by posting employment notice in a small classified ad in local newspapers with no mention of Mar-a-Lago. Applicants had to file resumes by fax, a technology few low-paid tourism industry workers own.
In 2015 and 2016, when
Trump was running for office with attacks on immigrant labor, his
companies applied for more than 400 H-2B visas for
low-paid temporary foreign workers.