Now, with less 60 days left before Election Day, a Miami-Dade County resort with Trump's name on it is quietly asking for more immigrant workers. This month, Sunny Isles Beach's Trump International Beach Resort — which Trump licenses but does not own — has requested 30 foreign workers as staff, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's website. And though Trump's folks have commonly claimed in the past that foreign workers are only doing jobs Americans "don't want," 20 of these jobs are of the garden-variety server type, and the other ten are "server assistants."
Hypocrisy?
Trump properties have routinely made use of the H-2B visa program, which allows companies to hire foreign workers temporarily. When applying for the visas, employers must certify that (A) there are not enough domestic workers to fill the jobs, and (B) the hiring of foreign labor won't hurt local wages. It's unclear how Trump International justified the fact that it can't find 30 food-service workers living in South Florida — especially because both jobs are guaranteed salaries above Florida's minimum wage.
Asked about why his properties used the visa program so often, Trump told MSNBC that "you can't get help" when asking for service workers.
On September 9, the Department of Labor accepted an application from International Resorts Management Group LLC, which operates Trump International. It asked for 20 servers, each to be paid more than $10 per hour:
Tip position with guaranteed wage of $10.36/hr. Allowed tip credit applied per FLSA guidelines to meet offered wage. Employer guarantees offered wage for hours worked if allowed tip credit does not make hourly wage equal to or exceed $10.36/hr. Employer reserves the option to provide additional compensation for performance and tenure. Overtime may be available, but not guaranteed at $15.54/hr. Minimum 35 hours per week. Hours may vary depending on occupancy. Open 7 days a week. Multiple shifts vary between 6:00am-12:00am. Pre-employment drug test and criminal background check required, cost paid by employer. Must be able to work a 5 day schedule, may include weekends and holidays. Applicants must complete an employment application.Five days later, on September 14, the labor department accepted another application from Trump International, this time for ten "assistant food and beverage servers." They were guaranteed more than $11 per hour:
Tip position with guaranteed wage of $11.19/hr. Allowed tip credit applied per FLSA guidelines to meet offered wage. Employer guarantees offered wage for hours worked if allowed tip credit does not make hourly wage equal to or exceed $11.19/hr. Employer reserves the option to provide additional compensation for performance and tenure. Overtime may be available, but not guaranteed at $16.79/hr. Minimum 35 hours per week. Hours may vary depending on occupancy. Open 7 days a week. Multiple shifts vary between 6:00am-12:00am. Pre-employment drug test and criminal background check required, cost paid by employer. Must be able to work a 5 day schedule, may include weekends and holidays. Applicants must complete an employment application.Trump International submitted both applications in August. Campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks stressed to Politico last week that Trump does not own or operate the resort. But for a candidate who is running on an anti-immigrant platform, the actions of companies with "Trump" plastered on the side should speak louder than words.
According to Buzzfeed, companies either owned by Trump or bearing his name have tried to hire 227 foreign workers since he announced his campaign.