(Eagle News)– Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday, Jan. 24, blamed a Philippine labor attaché for the United States’ government’s decision to ban for one year Filipinos from obtaining H-2A and H-2B visas to enter the US.
“One of our labor attachés questioned such visas so I guess we got what we asked for,” Locsin said on Twitter, without giving names.
In a separate Tweet, Locsin said the labor attaché in particular “denounced work/study J1 visas as slavery.”
“She started the halls rolling. Salamat on behalf of Filipinos who won’t be allowed into the US anymore. Good work,” Locsin said.
Because of overstaying and human trafficking concerns, the Department of Homeland Security announced Filipinos may no longer seek employment in the US with temporary visas for foreign agricultural and non-agricultural workers between January 19, 2019 to January 18, 2020.
According to the notice, the Philippines has a “high” overstay rate of holders of the H2-B visa or the visa issued to foreign workers who perform non-agricultural services in the US.
The notice also emphasized DHS and Department of State concerns about the “high volume of trafficking victims from the Philippines who were originally issued H-2B visas.”
According to the notice, from 2015 to 2018, H-2A visa applications have also increased significantly among Filipinos, and may be used as a means to commit human trafficking.
