Trump Golf Course Near NYC Is Seeking More Foreign Workers

Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County is petitioning to hire 14 foreign guest workers, saying it can't find Americans for the jobs. The positions pay more than $14 an hour.

The Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, is once again seeking permission to bring in foreign workers to serve as waiters, waitresses and cooks, according to petitions posted online by the Department of Labor Wednesday.

The workers are being sought under the federal H-2 visa program, which permits American employers to hire foreign laborers under temporary work visas as long as no qualified US workers want the jobs.

The fancy private club is located just 35 miles from New York City and its vast labor market. The petition to the Labor department effectively attests that there are no qualified American workers who want the jobs. The cooking jobs pay $14.36 an hour. The serving jobs pay $15.20 an hour. Both jobs are eligible for overtime.

No one from the golf course or the White House immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

Businesses owned by President Trump or bearing his name have been big users of the controversial H-2 program in the past, seeking to hire more than 400 foreign guest workers since he launched his presidential campaign.

Many work as servers and house cleaners at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate that has been termed the winter White House.

Despite his focus on restoring American jobs, Trump has also maintained that it is “almost impossible” to find qualified Americans who want temporary jobs in the service industry such as those available at many of his clubs and resorts that rely on the visa program.

The Trump National Golf Club jobs are seasonal, with work beginning in May and ending Oct. 31.

In 2016, a special envoy from the United Nations said the federal guest worker program puts workers at risk of exploitation and even trafficking. A BuzzFeed News investigation in 2015 found that H-2 workers were often exploited, and sometimes raped or beaten. BuzzFeed News also found that many Americans were denied jobs in favor of guest workers. Trump companies have not been accused of abusing H-2 workers

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