特朗普放松對外籍勞工的限制

The Trump administration will let US companies hire more foreign workers as they struggle to find Americans to work in hotels, restaurants and other seasonal jobs.

特朗普政府將允許美國企業(yè)雇傭更多外籍員工，原因是這些企業(yè)難以找到美國人來填補酒店、餐廳和其他季節(jié)性工作崗位空缺。

John Kelly, secretary of homeland security, yesterday announced the decision to increase the number of H-2B visas — permits for seasonal workers in non-agricultural sectors — to 81,000, a rise of 15,000 from a congressional annual cap of 66,000.

國土安全部長約翰•凱利(John Kelly)昨日宣布了把H-2B簽證的年度簽發(fā)數(shù)量提高到8.1萬的決定，這比國會制定的每年6.6萬的上限高出1.5萬。這種簽證面向從事非農(nóng)業(yè)季節(jié)性工作的外國勞工。

“Congress gave me the discretionary authority to provide temporary relief to American businesses at risk of significant harm due to a lack of available seasonal workers,” Mr Kelly said.

“國會給了我酌情裁量權(quán)，為那些可能因缺乏季節(jié)性勞工而蒙受重大損失的美國企業(yè)提供暫時救濟，”凱利說。

The retired general added that the administration was allowing a “one-time increase” to show its “commitment to supporting American businesses”. To qualify for the visas, companies must certify that they would suffer “irreparable harm” unless they can hire more foreign workers for seasonal jobs.

這位退役將軍補充道，特朗普政府批準“一次性增加”簽證數(shù)量來表明其“支持美國企業(yè)的承諾”。要申請這類簽證，企業(yè)必須證明：除非它們能夠雇傭更多外國人來從事季節(jié)性工作，否則它們將遭受“無法挽回的損失”。

While President Donald Trump campaigned on a series of tough immigration policies, he came under pressure during the race after it emerged that his properties used H-2B visas. “It’s very, very hard to get people,” Mr Trump said during one of the presidential debates.

盡管唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)在競選時提出一系列嚴厲的移民政策，但在他名下的物業(yè)被曝利用H-2B簽證后，他曾在競選期間蒙受壓力。“很難、很難招到人，”特朗普在其中一次總統(tǒng)候選人辯論時表示。

Dave Lapan, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said his agency did not know if the Trump Organization would take advantage of the increased cap to hire more seasonal workers at businesses such as Mar-a-Lago, the president’s Florida resort which has been dubbed the Winter White House.

國土安全部發(fā)言人戴夫•拉潘(Dave Lapan)表示，該部不知道特朗普集團(Trump Organization)是否會利用H-2B簽證上限提高，在海湖莊園(Mar-a-Lago，見文首照片)等企業(yè)雇傭更多季節(jié)性員工。后者是美國總統(tǒng)名下在佛羅里達的度假村，有“冬季白宮”之稱。

The move to allow more H-2B visas comes as the administration considers changes to the H-1B visa system that brings highly-skilled foreign workers to the US.

允許簽發(fā)更多H-2B簽證之際，特朗普政府正考慮修改引進高技能外籍員工的H-1B簽證制度。