GOP 2016 frontrunner Donald Trump is staking his campaign on promises to bring jobs back to America, but a new analysis of U.S. Labor records shows that Trump’s business have imported more than 1,100 foreign workers on temporary visas since 2000.
One of Mr. Trumps companies, the elite Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, applied to import 70 foreign workers to serve as cooks, wait staff and cleaners this month alone, Reuters reported Friday.
Nine companies that are majority-owned by Mr. Trump have sought to bring in foreign waitresses, cooks, vineyard workers and other laborers on temporary work-visa programs.
His companies also filed applications for an assistant golf-course superintendent, assistant hotel manager and a banquet manager, Reuters reported.
Two of his companies, Trump Model Management and Trump Management Group LLC, have sought visas for nearly 250 foreign fashion models, the records show.
The analysis of Mr. Trump’s foreign hires comes as he has positioned himself as a champion of American workers among the 2016 GOP field.
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“I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created,” he said during his campaign launch speech on June 16. “I will bring back our jobs from China, Mexico and other places. I will bring back jobs and our money.”
During that same speech Mr. Trump made controversial remarks on immigration, saying Mexico isn’t sending its best people to the U.S.
“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he said.
Reuters’ analysis examined records of applicants from three controversial categories of temporary work visas — the H-2A, H-2B and the H-1B programs.
The H-2B program brings in mostly Mexican workers. Mexicans made up more than 80 percent of the 104,993 admissions to the United States on H-2B visas in 2013. The Trump companies have sought at least 850 H-2B visa workers.
The program receives little oversight and federal watchdogs have criticized both the H-2B and H-2A programs for failing to protect foreign and American workers.
A recent report from the Government Accountability Office revealed that workers in the country on H-2A and H-2B visas have experienced abuse, including being charged illegal recruiting fees, substandard housing and low pay.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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