Trump approves 15,000 extra visas for seasonal foreign workers

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Donald Trump has authorised the addition of 15,000 seasonal worker visas during what the White House has billed as "Made in America" week. 
The H-2B visas are meant for temporary non-agricultural employment. Congress had previously set an annual cap of 66,000 of these visas for the 2017 fiscal year. 
The programme is designed to fill unskilled jobs that Americans do not want, but American companies need to fill in order to keep their business going. 
For​ "Made in America" week, the Trump administration wanted to highlight American manufacturing, which the President has repeatedly said he will "bring back". 
DHS officials are billing the extra visas as being in line with the theme of the week, too: “This does help with American businesses continuing to prosper,” one said. 

In a statement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly said he consulted with Labour Secretary Alexander Acosta to determine that "there are not enough qualified and willing US workers available to perform temporary nonagricultural labor to satisfy the needs of some American businesses in FY 2017."
It is supposed to be a one-time increase, according to DHS officials. 
Mr Kelly said that Congress has given him "discretional authority to provide temporary relief" for American businesses that are going to suffer without seasonal workers. Among those businesses are Mr Trump's resorts and hotel properties. Between 2013 and 2015, his Mar-a-Lago property - also known as the "Winter White House" - employed 246 workers on the H-2B visa. 
Since 2000, Mr Trump received 1,024 H-2B visas for his businesses for waiters, kitchen, and housekeeping staff, according to a CNN report. In the past, Mr Trump claimed he had to hire foreign workers for Mar-a-Lago because American workers were not available during busy tourist seasons in Florida. 
Businesses can apply for the visas starting this week and foreign workers can stay employed from four to 10 months. They are only allowed to legally stay in the US if they are employed when given this visa. 
There are requirements US companies must meet, however. They must place an advertisement for the jobs on two separate days in an effort to "must conduct certain recruitment to ensure that there are not qualified US workers available for the position".

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