Title: Urgent Call for Immigration Reform in Horse Racing Industry Amid Labor Concerns

Noting the borders have largely been secured, industry participants and regulators gathered May 1 at Churchill Downs to say the timing is right for the President and lawmakers to reform the complicated laws and processes that regulate legal foreign workers in the United States.

Both tracks and farms rely on foreign workers for labor, with tracks operating through the H-2B visa program to bring in workers while farms use the H-2A visa program. Industry representatives said there are sensible ideas out there that would improve these programs while still protecting the country’s borders.

California Horse Racing Board vice president Oscar Gonzales said the industry was encouraged to bring its labor issues forward after President Trump said he would be willing to give foreign worker permits for agricultural and hotel workers. Many of those workers currently operate under the H-2A and H-2B visa programs.

One item high on racing’s wish list is to make it easier for workers who previously qualified for H-2B visas to return to the U.S. if they’re seeking the same visa to continue to work in the industry. Trainer Dale Romans said he recently joined a group of industry leaders to visit Washington and raise awareness of the sport’s labor needs.

In Washington the group met with the American Business Immigration Coalition, which advocates for "sensible immigration reform." The group’s CEO, Rebecca Shi, attended Thursday morning’s press conference and outlined some of its efforts.

In President Trump’s second term the U.S. has been carrying out mass deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Romans, also board president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, supports removing bad actors from the country but hopes the President and lawmakers can protect the many good people properly participating in the country’s workforce as foreign workers. He said the past few months have been the most stressful he’s ever seen for his legal foreign workers.

"They’re still worried about what could happen. I’ve never had as many people coming to me and asking me questions," Romans said. "As an example, we were shipping from Florida to Kentucky and you have to go through weigh stations and they travel with the horses. They said, ‘Are we going to be taken off and swept away when we cross the border? Is there going to be ICE sitting there waiting?’ These are legal people having these concerns.

"It’s a very important issue, a humanitarian issue. And it’s a labor issue, and it’s a business issue, and we need to do all we can to get as many people here working legally, paying taxes and doing the right thing."

Gonzales knows his way around Washington. He previously served in multiple roles in the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009-17 including deputy director of intergovernmental affairs. He said in the months ahead the industry will be working hard to improve options for its foreign workers.