Ken Bensinger, Jemery Singer-Vine, Jessica Garrison
Trump often says his resorts have no choice but to hire foreign guest workers — there just aren’t any Americans to take the jobs. But government records show nearly 60 US residents applied for those jobs, and only one was hired.
For years, President Donald Trump has insisted it’s impossible to find Americans to fill seasonal jobs at his hotels, resorts, and wineries, leaving him no choice but to hire foreign guest workers instead.
But government records obtained by BuzzFeed News reveal for the first time that at least 58 US workers applied for the temporary jobs as cooks, servers, and housekeepers at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump resorts from early 2014 through mid-2018.
Ken Bensinger, Jemery Singer-Vine, Jessica Garrison
Trump often says his resorts have no choice but to hire foreign guest workers — there just aren’t any Americans to take the jobs. But government records show nearly 60 US residents applied for those jobs, and only one was hired.
For years, President Donald Trump has insisted it’s impossible to find Americans to fill seasonal jobs at his hotels, resorts, and wineries, leaving him no choice but to hire foreign guest workers instead.
But government records obtained by BuzzFeed News reveal for the first time that at least 58 US workers applied for the temporary jobs as cooks, servers, and housekeepers at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump resorts from early 2014 through mid-2018.
Instead of giving jobs to local workers, the Trump properties applied for permission to bring in more than 375 low-wage workers from abroad on short-term visas. All of the requests were approved by the Department of Labor, the records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show.
Since being elected, President Trump has held himself up as a fierce defender of American jobs. He has pressured companies to keep struggling US plants open, enacted tariffs against China, and threatened to close the border with Mexico. Earlier this month, Trump complained about the influx of undocumented immigrants from south of the border. “Our country is full,” he said. “Can’t take you anymore, I’m sorry.”
Yet throughout that time, he has continued a practice — started more than a decade ago — of staffing his high-end resorts with foreign workers. Businesses owned by or bearing the name Trump have sought to hire more than 600 employees through the guest worker program, known as the H-2 visa, since he launched his presidential campaign in June 2015.
Most recently, the Trump Winery in Virginia, which is operated by Eric Trump, applied for 23 of the controversial visas for seasonal workers. Between Mar-a-Lago and three of his Trump National Golf Clubs, Trump’s highest-profile resorts apply for a total of around 100 guest worker visas per year, government records show.
Before getting permission to hire workers from outside the US, employers are required to seek local applicants by advertising the jobs in local newspapers and with government-run job recruitment centers. The ads are placed several months or more before the start date for the job, and employers are not required to advertise online. Records indicate the Trump properties complied with the recruiting rules, and year after year told the Labor Department that “there are not enough US workers to consider and hire.”
Instead of giving jobs to local workers, the Trump properties applied for permission to bring in more than 375 low-wage workers from abroad on short-term visas. All of the requests were approved by the Department of Labor, the records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show.
Since being elected, President Trump has held himself up as a fierce defender of American jobs. He has pressured companies to keep struggling US plants open, enacted tariffs against China, and threatened to close the border with Mexico. Earlier this month, Trump complained about the influx of undocumented immigrants from south of the border. “Our country is full,” he said. “Can’t take you anymore, I’m sorry.”
Yet throughout that time, he has continued a practice — started more than a decade ago — of staffing his high-end resorts with foreign workers. Businesses owned by or bearing the name Trump have sought to hire more than 600 employees through the guest worker program, known as the H-2 visa, since he launched his presidential campaign in June 2015.
Most recently, the Trump Winery in Virginia, which is operated by Eric Trump, applied for 23 of the controversial visas for seasonal workers. Between Mar-a-Lago and three of his Trump National Golf Clubs, Trump’s highest-profile resorts apply for a total of around 100 guest worker visas per year, government records show.
Before getting permission to hire workers from outside the US, employers are required to seek local applicants by advertising the jobs in local newspapers and with government-run job recruitment centers. The ads are placed several months or more before the start date for the job, and employers are not required to advertise online. Records indicate the Trump properties complied with the recruiting rules, and year after year told the Labor Department that “there are not enough US workers to consider and hire.”
The records furnished by the Labor Department include recruitment reports accompanying 19 different H-2 petitions submitted by three different Trump properties: Mar-a-Lago; the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida; and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. BuzzFeed News also received several other visa petitions from these Trump properties, but they did not include recruitment reports.
The one US resident who these records indicate was hired got a job at Mar-a-Lago, in 2015, as a cook earning $13.01 per hour. The outcome for two additionalapplicants was listed only as “TBD.”
The records released by the Labor Department are heavily redacted and do not identify any applicants by name.
The records furnished by the Labor Department include recruitment reports accompanying 19 different H-2 petitions submitted by three different Trump properties: Mar-a-Lago; the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida; and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. BuzzFeed News also received several other visa petitions from these Trump properties, but they did not include recruitment reports.
The one US resident who these records indicate was hired got a job at Mar-a-Lago, in 2015, as a cook earning $13.01 per hour. The outcome for two additionalapplicants was listed only as “TBD.”
The records released by the Labor Department are heavily redacted and do not identify any applicants by name.
A yearlong investigation by BuzzFeed News found that in many industries with seasonal staffing needs, employers prefer to hire foreign guest workers because they are seen as more compliant — less likely to quit for another job or to complain about low pay, physically demanding tasks, or difficult schedules. Unlike Americans who commute to their jobs and may have families and other demands on their time, guest workers are often housed on the job site and are therefore able to work longer hours.
A yearlong investigation by BuzzFeed News found that in many industries with seasonal staffing needs, employers prefer to hire foreign guest workers because they are seen as more compliant — less likely to quit for another job or to complain about low pay, physically demanding tasks, or difficult schedules. Unlike Americans who commute to their jobs and may have families and other demands on their time, guest workers are often housed on the job site and are therefore able to work longer hours.
Regulators have frequently caught employers discriminating against American applicants, forcing them to pass grueling physical or academic tests that foreign workers do not have to take, advertising for jobs in newspapers hundreds or thousands of miles from the worksite in order to reduce the chance that anyone will apply, and posting stiffer educational and experience requirements than the job actually requires.
The Trump properties’ US job postings required three or six months’ prior relevant work experience, as well as that the candidate have “no visible tattoos or piercings.” Applicants, who are asked to commit to temporary jobs months in advance, are also asked to “be available to work split-shifts, nights, weekends & holidays” for shifts that could start as early as 7 a.m. or as late as 11 p.m., “7 days per week.”
Regulators have frequently caught employers discriminating against American applicants, forcing them to pass grueling physical or academic tests that foreign workers do not have to take, advertising for jobs in newspapers hundreds or thousands of miles from the worksite in order to reduce the chance that anyone will apply, and posting stiffer educational and experience requirements than the job actually requires.
The Trump properties’ US job postings required three or six months’ prior relevant work experience, as well as that the candidate have “no visible tattoos or piercings.” Applicants, who are asked to commit to temporary jobs months in advance, are also asked to “be available to work split-shifts, nights, weekends & holidays” for shifts that could start as early as 7 a.m. or as late as 11 p.m., “7 days per week.”
Such restrictions can serve as a disincentive to US job seekers, discouraging them from ever applying in the first place, particularly at a time when unemployment rates in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Mar-a-Lago is located, have dipped below 4%.
There is no public record of Trump properties incurring any penalties related to the H-2 program.
But a 2011 Palm Beach Post article noted that Mar-a-Lago failed to share postings for 90 open positions with a local nonprofit that helps unemployed Americans find jobs. Meanwhile, the club placed newspaper advertisements asking that applicants for housekeeper jobs have high school diplomas, a highly unusual requirement for such a position.
Mar-a-Lago no longer includes an educational requirement for housekeeping positions — which paid $10.68 an hour for the most recent season — but it does require three months’ prior experience “in luxury hospitality setting” and that candidates be “articulate in English.”
Such restrictions can serve as a disincentive to US job seekers, discouraging them from ever applying in the first place, particularly at a time when unemployment rates in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Mar-a-Lago is located, have dipped below 4%.
There is no public record of Trump properties incurring any penalties related to the H-2 program.
But a 2011 Palm Beach Post article noted that Mar-a-Lago failed to share postings for 90 open positions with a local nonprofit that helps unemployed Americans find jobs. Meanwhile, the club placed newspaper advertisements asking that applicants for housekeeper jobs have high school diplomas, a highly unusual requirement for such a position.
Mar-a-Lago no longer includes an educational requirement for housekeeping positions — which paid $10.68 an hour for the most recent season — but it does require three months’ prior experience “in luxury hospitality setting” and that candidates be “articulate in English.”
According to media reports, Trump properties have also employed undocumented immigrants to perform gardening, maintenance, and groundskeeping work, but in the wake of public attention have begun terminating those employees — some of whom have worked for the resorts for years.
According to media reports, Trump properties have also employed undocumented immigrants to perform gardening, maintenance, and groundskeeping work, but in the wake of public attention have begun terminating those employees — some of whom have worked for the resorts for years.
Perfect answer Slim. And it's one that is lost on a large percentage of the left or anti-Trump people. Trump's supporters simply don't care about this stuff. As long as they feel like 'their guy' is winning, it doesn't matter what he says or does
Quote Originally Posted by SarasotaSlim:
I DON"T CARE !
Perfect answer Slim. And it's one that is lost on a large percentage of the left or anti-Trump people. Trump's supporters simply don't care about this stuff. As long as they feel like 'their guy' is winning, it doesn't matter what he says or does
I was wrong about you...you are just like the rest...I thought you had a bit of sanity and were just playing a game on here. Sorry I was wrong.
SAD!
I wasn't wrong about you though ....I knew where you were coming from all along ...esp.when you posted that President Trump uses Nazi tactics to mislead people..
That's more than sad ..that's pathetic.
Quote Originally Posted by moneym8:
I was wrong about you...you are just like the rest...I thought you had a bit of sanity and were just playing a game on here. Sorry I was wrong.
SAD!
I wasn't wrong about you though ....I knew where you were coming from all along ...esp.when you posted that President Trump uses Nazi tactics to mislead people..
“As everyone knows, I suffer from a very serious case of BS, so I couldn’t do my duty in Vietnam, although it would have been an honor,” said the "president" as his plane landed in Caen, near the site of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944.
He is right about that .. BS all over the place
Trump, however, insisted that “brave bone spur sufferers” have played a major role in all U.S. wars, including World War II. He called anyone who doubted that “nasty, fake news people with no compassion for those of us dealing with out-of-control BS.”
“As everyone knows, I suffer from a very serious case of BS, so I couldn’t do my duty in Vietnam, although it would have been an honor,” said the "president" as his plane landed in Caen, near the site of the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944.
He is right about that .. BS all over the place
Trump, however, insisted that “brave bone spur sufferers” have played a major role in all U.S. wars, including World War II. He called anyone who doubted that “nasty, fake news people with no compassion for those of us dealing with out-of-control BS.”
Has nothing to do with it, Vig. These are service industry jobs that anyone can do. Resorts, cruiselines, ect. hire this foreign labor because it's cheaper than hiring Americans. This isn't just a Trump thing. I boned a handful of South Americans (Brazil, Argentina, ect.) In the early 2000s when they would come up to South Lake Tahoe for seasonal work. This was when I first heard of the practice. I think the OPs point is that a man who claims to care so much about American workers should make more of an effort to hire them. Trump also has a history of hiring foreign construction workers as well. I know someone here will make excused for him, or say somwthing about the unemployment rate. I'm not a Trump basher so no need to defend him to me. Just simply stating facts.
R.I.P. #94 MARSHAWN KNEELAND - DC4L
Has nothing to do with it, Vig. These are service industry jobs that anyone can do. Resorts, cruiselines, ect. hire this foreign labor because it's cheaper than hiring Americans. This isn't just a Trump thing. I boned a handful of South Americans (Brazil, Argentina, ect.) In the early 2000s when they would come up to South Lake Tahoe for seasonal work. This was when I first heard of the practice. I think the OPs point is that a man who claims to care so much about American workers should make more of an effort to hire them. Trump also has a history of hiring foreign construction workers as well. I know someone here will make excused for him, or say somwthing about the unemployment rate. I'm not a Trump basher so no need to defend him to me. Just simply stating facts.
Hot Forum Topics
