President Donald Trump’s focus on cracking down on illegal immigrants has caused concern in the horse racing industry, which heavily relies on foreign labor. However, the President of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Tom Rooney, believes that the focus is currently on illegal workers without permits, not those under visa programs like H-2B and H-2A.
The H-2B visa program allows foreign nationals to work temporarily in non-agricultural jobs, including horse racing, and has traditionally had a cap of around 66,000 visas per year. Trainers like Kenny McPeek rely on these visa programs for their workforce and hope that the government will make more visas available to help solve labor shortages.
Immigration raids in other industries have put the immigrant community on high alert, but there have been no targeted backstretch immigration raids in the horse racing industry yet. Immigration attorney Will Velie advises racing’s immigrant community to understand their rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution, as outlined in popular “Red Cards,” and to be aware of the difference between an administrative warrant and a judicial warrant.