Shortly After Trump's 'Shithole' Remarks, DHS Cuts Off Haitians From Seasonal Work Visas

Less than a week after President Donald Trump provoked international outrage by reportedly referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations as” shithole” countries, the Department of Homeland Security is under fire for pushing the president’s “racist anti-Haitian immigrant agenda” by specifically barring Haitians from applying for certain temporary work visas.

The department announced in a regulatory filing that starting Thursday, Haiti, Belize, and Samoa would be removed from the list of more than 80 countries whose citizens can apply for H-2A and H-2B visas, which are often used by seasonal farm or hotel workers, including at Trump’s properties.

DHS, citing high levels of fraud, justified the move by claiming that Haiti’s participation in the program “is no longer in the U.S. interest.”

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Sarah Williamson, whose consultancy firm ran a pilot program to bring Haitians to the United States on seasonal work visas, told Reuters that although only a few dozen Haitians have used the visas each year since Haiti was added to the list, with this move, the Trump administration is “cutting off the most economically beneficial visa for the Haitian people.”

“Even though not many people have been able to avail themselves of it,” Williamson said, “it’s been hugely transformational for those who have participated.”

The visa decision follows recent moves by Trump’s DHS to end protections for Haitians, Salvadorans, and Nicaraguans in the federal government’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which allows foreigners impacted by armed conflicts or natural disasters to legally live and work in the United States.