Mar-a-Lago and Trump Properties: H-2B Visa Violations and Rejection of American Workers
Tier 3Documented2013-01-01 to 2019-12-31
Factual Summary
Between 2013 and 2019, Trump-owned properties, primarily the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, repeatedly used the H-2B temporary visa program to hire foreign workers for seasonal positions as cooks, servers, housekeepers, and waitstaff. The H-2B program requires employers to demonstrate that qualified American workers are unavailable before hiring foreign nationals. Department of Labor records, visa applications, and investigative reporting documented a pattern in which Trump properties rejected American applicants and used minimal recruitment efforts to justify importing foreign labor.
A BuzzFeed News investigation published in August 2017 found that at least 58 American workers applied for temporary positions at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties between early 2014 and mid-2018. Only one of those applicants appeared to have been hired. During the same period, the properties applied for permission to bring in more than 375 foreign workers on H-2B visas.
The recruitment methods used by Mar-a-Lago were documented as minimal and potentially designed to discourage American applicants. Job advertisements were placed with limited details and instructed applicants to respond by fax, a technology that few individuals seeking low-wage seasonal work were likely to own. The advertisements satisfied the legal minimum requirement for demonstrating recruitment efforts but did not reflect a genuine search for domestic workers.
In late 2014, the Department of Labor audited Mar-a-Lago's participation in the H-2B program. The audit found that the club had requested more H-2B visas than it ultimately used and had failed to report instances in which guest workers left their positions before the end of their authorized employment period. Both failures constituted violations of program requirements. The audit was closed without penalties or further action.
The pattern extended across multiple Trump properties. Since Trump declared his presidential candidacy in June 2015, his businesses sought to employ more than 400 foreign guest workers through the H-2B visa program. Mar-a-Lago alone accounted for at least 264 of those workers. In 2018, while Trump was president and publicly advocating for reduced immigration, the Mar-a-Lago Club filed applications for 61 additional H-2B workers.
The contradiction between Trump's public rhetoric opposing foreign labor and his business practices was documented by multiple news organizations and government watchdog groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which tracked the visa applications filed by Trump-branded businesses throughout his presidency.
Primary Sources
1. Department of Labor H-2B visa application records for Mar-a-Lago Club and Trump National Golf Club, publicly available through the DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification disclosure data
2. Department of Labor audit of Mar-a-Lago H-2B compliance, 2014, referenced in BuzzFeed News investigation
3. CREW: "Trump businesses seek to hire more foreign workers as his administration supercharges deportations," 2019: https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-businesses-seek-to-hire-more-foreign-workers-as-his-administration-supercharges-deportations/
Corroborating Sources
1. BuzzFeed News: "Mar-A-Lago Rejected Dozens Of US Applicants Then Hired Foreign Workers," August 2017
2. ABC News: "Trump's Mar-a-Lago asks to hire 61 additional foreign workers using visa program," July 2018
3. Truthout: "Trump's Mar-a-Lago Visa Hypocrisy," 2018
Counterarguments and Context
Trump's businesses argued that the use of H-2B visas was standard practice for seasonal hospitality operations in South Florida and that the local labor market did not produce sufficient numbers of qualified applicants for seasonal positions. The Mar-a-Lago Club and other Trump properties argued that they complied with all legal requirements for domestic recruitment before applying for foreign worker visas. The Department of Labor audit's closure without penalties was cited as evidence that no serious violations occurred. Trump's personal position was that the H-2B program, while imperfect, served a legitimate business need and that his policy advocacy for immigration reform addressed different categories of immigration. Critics of the coverage noted that many hospitality businesses in Palm Beach County faced similar seasonal labor shortages and that Trump's use of the program was not unique to his properties.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the evidence consists of primary government records, including H-2B visa applications filed with the Department of Labor, the DOL audit findings, and publicly available disclosure data. The pattern of rejecting American applicants while simultaneously applying for foreign worker visas is documented through the applications themselves and direct interviews with rejected American workers.