Source: CENTER FOR IMMGRATION STUDIES, 12/31/18


Introduction
Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election partly because of his stance against illegal immigration. His famous campaign promise is the construction of a wall on the southern border with Mexico. As president, he also advocates for cuts to legal immigration, such as pushing to replace our current chain migration laws with a merit-based immigration scheme.1 Trump's many critics attack his stances on immigration as racist. The UN human rights commissioner mused that his policies are fueling xenophobia.2

But there are parts of our immigration laws that the president supports, such as the H-2B program for non-agricultural laborers. In fact, Trump's resort and golf properties have used the program for years to find staff. In 2018, the Department of Labor certified 14 foreign guestworkers for employment at Trump National Golf Club. Trump praised foreign guestworker programs during his campaign.3 He insisted that "we're gonna let them in because you need them. Guestworkers, don't we agree? We have to have them."

His support extends beyond words. In both the 2016 and 2017 omnibus appropriations bills, the president signed off on giving the DHS secretary discretion to raise the H-2B visa ceiling from 66,000 to 85,000. In both instances, first under John Kelly and then under Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary initiated the "one-time" increases.

This report examines the H-2B program and the impact of H-2B guestworkers in FY 2018, using disclosure data from the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC). Wage and workforce participation data comes from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Key findings include:
• The number of certified H-2B workers has risen every year since 2013, growing by an average of 12.4 percent year-to-year.
• Guestworkers were paid less than the national average in 21 of the top 25 job categories.
• Guestworkers in the top five job categories (landscaping, forestry, housekeeping, carnival workers, and meatpacking) make up 68.8 percent of total certifications.
• 99 percent of H-2B workers took jobs with no training requirements; 97.3 percent took jobs with no education requirements.
• The top 5 states — Texas, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania — make up 26 percent of all workers.
• Four of the top five top worksites are in Texas — Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

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