(Eagle News) — The Palace on Tuesday, Jan. 22, said it was leaving the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine ambassador to the United States to work on the US visa ban on new Filipino workers with H-2A and H-2B visas.
“That’s their turf,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, referring to the ban announced by the Department of Homeland Security from Jan. 19, 2019 to Jan. 18, 2020.
A H-2B visa is issued to foreign workers seeking temporary non-agricultural jobs in the US.
A H-2A visa, on the other hand, is issued to foreign workers seeking temporary agricultural work there.
According to Panelo, there should be an assessment first of whether or not the ban has basis before the Philippines can ask the US to reconsider.
The DHS had cited human trafficking and overstaying concerns in issuing the ban also on workers in the same categories from the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia.
Panelo said “we have to respect” US laws.
“We will only react if our workers are being mistreated, maltreated or being discriminated against,” he said.
