Trump Winery Seeks Foreign Workers
Donald Trump made American jobs a priority during his presidential campaign, but a Virginia winery owned by his son Eric wants to hire foreign workers to pick its grapes.
Trump Winery, whose strange history Town & Country explored in 2011, has applied to hire 29 foreign workers this growing season under the federal H-2A visa program, the Charlottesville-based Daily Progress reports.
Agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers can apply to host foreign workers through the H-2A visa program. In order to be eligible, employers must state that they have attempted, unsuccessfully, to find American citizens for the jobs first. At least three other local vineyards also applied to hire foreign workers.
“It’s difficult to find people," said Libby Whitley, an attorney who has worked with employers, including Trump Winery.
Trump Vineyard Estates had initially applied for six foreign workers in December. Two months later, the company applied for 23 more. Both job orders for Trump Vineyard Estates say the primary tasks include planting and cultivating vines, adding grow tubes, and pruning grape vines.
H-2A workers and U.S. workers in corresponding employment must be paid a certain rate: $10.72 an hour for vineyard farm workers in Virginia this year.
Two other Trump businesses, Mar-a-Lago and Ivanka Trump's jewelry business, have also applied to hire foreign workers, according to the Huffington Post and Fortune.
Ivanka's jewelry line requested five guest worker visas between 2008 and 2013, and Mar-a-Lago submitted applications for 787 workers between 2006 and 2016 for positions as maids, cooks, and servers, Newsweek reports.
"You cannot get help during the season. The season goes from like October to March. It's almost impossible to get help," Trump said during his campaign regarding his hiring foreign workers at Mar-a-Lago. "And part of the reason you can't get American people is they want full-time jobs."
Trump Winery did not respond to a request for comment.
With reporting by the Associated Press
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