Trump Winery Again Seeks To Hire Foreign Guest Workers

The Virginia vineyard, owned by Eric Trump, is seeking six workers to start in January. Businesses owned by President Trump or bearing his name have been frequent users of the program in the past, seeking to hire more than 400 foreign guest workers since he launched his presidential campaign.

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A Virginia winery owned by President Donald Trump’s son Eric is seeking permission to hire six more foreign guest workers, according to a petition posted by the Department of Labor on Wednesday.

The Trump Winery, also known as Trump Vineyard Estates, LLC, is seeking the workers under the federal H-2 visa program, which permits US employers to hire foreign laborers under temporary work visas as long as no qualified US workers want the jobs. The work on the 1,300-acre estate, which would pay $11.27 an hour, is to start in January and could run through July.

The information posted Wednesday did not describe working conditions, but in the past, foreign workers at the winery have been warned they would have to labor outside in weather as cold as 10 degrees while “on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time.”

Since 2003, employers have brought in more than 100,000 foreign workers under the H-2 program each year. Businesses owned by President Trump or bearing his name have been frequent users of the program in the past, seeking to hire more than 400 foreign guest workers since he launched his presidential campaign. Many have worked as servers and house cleaners at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida golf club that is informally referred to as the Winter White House.

Trump campaigned on a promise to restore US jobs. When asked, previously, about requests to bring in foreign workers, he has said it is “almost impossible” to find Americans who want these positions. His press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the winery.

A 2015 BuzzFeed News investigation found that H-2 workers in a range of industries were often exploited and sometimes raped or beaten. BuzzFeed News also found that many Americans were denied jobs in favor of guest workers. Trump companies have not been accused of mistreating H-2 workers.

The winery’s website says it is not owned by the president but rather by his son Eric, who was given the operation by his father in 2012, according to news reports.

But in August, speaking to reporters following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that injured dozens and killed a young woman, Trump told the media that he owned the winery.

In the same news conference, he also said boosting employment could help heal racial divides.

“I think if we continue to create jobs at levels that I’m creating jobs, I think that’s going to have a tremendous impact — positive impact on race relations,” Trump said.