The Trump administration has said it will issue nearly 65,000 additional H-2B guest worker visas through September, effectively doubling the maximum number that can be issued in a year.
President Trump has broadly moved to drastically cut legal avenues of immigration, and he has directed a mass deportation campaign that has brought aggressive ICE crackdowns to American cities. Another visa for skilled workers through another program, known as the H-1B, has been imperiled by the Trump administration imposing a $100,000 fee for applicants to the program.
But Mr. Trump has endured backlash from his base for voicing his support for H-1Bs. And the move to issue tens of thousands of additional H-2B guest worker visas reflects Mr. Trump’s unusual sensitivity to American businesses, many of which have been negatively impacted by his tariff policies, that insist that they need seasonal foreign workers to stay afloat.
The president has himself been a frequent and longtime user of the H-2B program for jobs like cooks, housekeepers and waiters at his properties. His companies continued to hire H-2 workers during his first presidential term, including at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, in Palm Beach, Fla.
Agencies have routinely authorized additional worker visas under the H-2B program once they receive more applications than the statutory maximum of 66,000 visas in a year. But employers could not as easily count on supplemental visas being issued since Mr. Trump returned to office last year, and lobbying groups pushed the president to move more quickly this year to issue more visas.
“The American economy depends on a reliable, legal, and timely workforce to keep essential industries running,” the National Association of Landscape Professionals said in a statement in December that called for the release of more visas, adding that seasonal industries, like landscaping, construction and hospitality “are facing severe labor shortages that threaten their ability to operate at full capacity.”
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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