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Trump administration bars Haitians from U.S. visas for low-skilled work
Haitians will no longer be eligible for U.S. visas given to low-skilled workers, which brings an end to a relief program that helped unemployed Haitians after a devastating 2010 earthquake. The Department of Homeland Security cites "high levels of fraud and abuse” and a “high rate of overstaying the terms” as the reason behind barring these unskilled workers. This sudden change towards Haitian workers comes a week after Trump allegedly referred to Haiti and several African nations as "shithole countries." Other than Haiti, Belize and Samoa were also removed from this visa program, with "human trafficking and not taking back nationals" being cited as the reasons why.
In 2016, 65 Haitians entered the United States on H-2A visas, given for agricultural work, and 54 Haitians were given H-2A visas by the State Department between March and November 2017.
Supporters of the visas say they gave Haitians a rare opportunity to work legally in the United States, and now without H-2 visas, there are very few legal ways into the United States for most Haitians.
Personally, I don't think we should be giving these types of visas to anyone. After all, there are a significant number of unemployed people here in the United States who don't need the competition for jobs. I see these work visas as a way for employers to exploit these Haitians and other types of unskilled workers for lower pay and longer hours.
Do you think removing Haiti from this visa program is justified? Are the cited reasons for doing so acceptable or do you believe there are other ulterior motives?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-haiti/trump-administration-bars-haitians-from-u-s-visas-for-low-skilled-work-idUSKBN1F702O
2 comments:
Honestly, I disagree with you. I don't think that this program for Haitian workers should've been banned by the Trump administration. I think that this program is such a huge benefit for the 65 workers from Haiti, as they came to the US in search for a better life for them and their children. Also, when I was researching on this topic, I read that for farms and businesses to use this visa and hire these Haitian workers, they must provide proof to the government that there are no American workers to fill their job openings. So banning these H-2A visas are not going to give Americans more jobs and its not like the 65 people are drastically raising competitions for jobs in the US. If anything, I think that this is a symbiotic relationship between the Haitian workers and these farms.
I agree with Julia that the program should be preserved for Haitian workers, as it is ultimately beneficial to both Haitian workers who wish to work in the United States and for Haiti’s recovery after the devastating earthquake in 2010. Furthermore, I see disallowing the distribution of H-2A and H-2B visas for Haiti as a factor that will likely lead to a spike in illegal work by Haitians and would give more of an opportunity for employers to exploit these workers for low pay and long hours, as mentioned in the original post. Although it is true that there is a high overstay rate for Haitian workers on these visas (about 40% in 2016), I don’t believe this is grounds for completely barring Haitians from U.S. work visas.
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