NEW YORK_President Donald Trump's private Palm Beach resort is seeking permission from the government to hire 40 additional temporary foreign workers to staff Mar-a-Lago during the ritzy Florida community's busy season, according to United States Department of Labor records released Thursday.
The club seeks to hire the non-American employees as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal entry into the United States with a so-called "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.
The request, first reported by BuzzFeed, was made despite Trump's urging American companies to hire locals, arguing immigration puts pressure on wages and takes jobs away from hard-working Americans.
Mar-a-Lago seeks to hire the 40 foreign waiters and waitresses under the H-2B visa program, which allows American employers to hire foreigners on a seasonal basis if there is not a sufficient supply of qualified Americans.
If the request is approved, Mar-a-Lago will be allowed to employ the workers from October 2018 until May 2019.
The workers would earn an hourly wage of $12.68 with the possibility of making $19.02 an hour in overtime pay.
Trump defended the practice of hiring foreign workers, telling MSNBC's "Morning Joe" it "is very hard to get people in Florida for seasonal jobs.
"For about a five-month period during what they call the Palm Beach season, which is a big deal, you can't get help," he said. "So we tend to get help from different places including Europe."
Trump has for years been staffing the resort, built by the wife of stockbroker E.F. Hutton in 1927, with foreign employees.
Mar-a-Lago _ dubbed the "Winter White House" _ was for the 2017-2018 season given permission to hire 70 foreign maids, cooks and servers.
Trump has been criticized for his hiring practices by Floridians who claim they want to work and have been turned down for Mar-a-Lago jobs for no apparent reason.
