U.S. Immigration Policy Is Held Together With Band-Aids
A lack of permanent worker visas pushes people into vulnerable conditions
In early April, Donald Trump stepped off Air Force One in El Centro, California, to applause from Border Patrol agents and military personnel on deployment. After a few desultory waves from the top of the airstairs, Trump and his security contingent motorcaded to the border town of Calexico, where he was regaled by a series of enthusiasts and officials echoing his love for walls and intent to keep out immigrants. Trump himself freewheeled, in his own way, exclaiming that “the system is full. And when it’s full, there’s nothing you can do. You have to say, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t take you.’ We’ve been trying to take people, and I have to disagree with it. We’ve been trying to take people, and you can’t do it. You can’t do it. So we’re going to look at that, and we’re going to look at it very, very strongly.” A few days later, via Twitter, he put it more succinctly: “Our Country is FULL!”
And yet, only a few weeks before, Trump’s administration quietly approved an additional 35,000 temporary guest worker visas to fill vacant jobs across the country. The Departments of Homeland Security and Labor announced last month that they were offering the extra H-2B visas — reserved for seasonal workers, many of whom are…
