On Monday the Department of Homeland Security and the US Justice Department released ominous and unprecedented warnings to American business executives, warning of increased scrutiny and possible lawsuits unless American workers are given precedence over foreign-born citizens in job hirings.
Recently, however, Sputnik revealed that the president's son, Eric Trump, was actively seeking to employ foreign-born workers over Americans for a family-owned vineyard in the state of Virginia.
According to The Hill, an ad for 23 temporary foreign workers would guarantee the new hires a minimum of $11.27 an hour to plant seeds and harvest grapes at the Trump family's 1,300-acre Virginia vineyard, beginning April 3 and ending on or about October 27.
Many in the US have welcomed Trump's regime of increased visa scrutiny, a promise he hit on repeatedly during his campaign for the US presidency. But others have noted a discrepancy in the implementation of the moves, including the president's promised foreign-worker immigration visa reforms, according to the Washington Times.
Sara Blackwell, a Florida lawyer who works with US citizens who have lost jobs to foreign visa holders, said, "Personally, I am still waiting for the president to just tell us his plan and tell us he cares about this issue. The silence and inaction together make it hard for me to believe the president is still on the side of the American worker."
Existing foreign worker visa requirements have long helped Trump and his many businesses, according to The Hill. Since beginning his run for the White House in 2015, some 286 foreign workers have been requested by companies either owned by Trump, or that bear his name.
Most of those foreign-worker hires are now employees at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's luxurious "winter White House," where they work as servers, laborers and in housecleaning.