LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Trump administration’s immigration cut and the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic threaten to leave the horse racing industry workers-free, race officials warn as they prepare for a reconfigured Kentucky Derthrough.
The world’s largest racing event, postponed until September 5 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, has not been seriously hampered by the scarcity of ever closer labor. But running shoes and advocates say President Donald Trump’s executive order that extended the federal government’s suspension of certain types of paint visas in March added an air of insecurity in a company that relies heavily on an immigrant painting force.
“It’s a moving goal that can be replaced so quickly,” Master Dale Romans said. “I don’t intend to continue with my business, let alone grow, if I can’t be waiting a year after year constantly.”
Romanos, the ultimate moment in a successful coach in Churchill’s history, posed the challenge bluntly. When other people can’t enter the country and no one else does the task of feeding and worrying about horses, he said, “There’s no one to do the job.”
The number of staff available is difficult to determine, as is the effect of coronavirus. Many running shoes in the racing industry rely on the H-2B visa program to provide legal immigrant staff, but many jobs pass into the hands of undocumented staff.As visa programs exceed the set limit of 66,000, visa bans until the end of the year and pandemic have made crossing the border more complicated, and arrests for illegal crossings at the Mexican border have fallen well below last year’s levels.
The paintings are made every day, all year round, without return in case of bad weather or pandemic. In the busy days leading up to the Derby, Churchill Downs’ rear domain staff would get up early in the morning to start preparing the horses for long-running races. Usually guilty of worrying about 4 or five horses each, the blank staff and water stalls, walking the horses after a delicate education and making sure they are healthy and fed.
Situations and low wages in the sector worry about advocates such as Evy Pea, communications director at the Migrant Rights Centre. For more than two years, two schools were ordered to pay migrants tens of thousands of dollars for lost wages and poor living situations.
These dangers are now high, Pea said, and running shoes and racetracks protect workers more.
Pea maintains that H-2B visa staff have less legal coverage than their U.S. counterparts. They would possibly lose their jobs, their immigration prestige and the option of being rehired under the program if they complain.
The equine industry also has an interest in re-employment. Year after year, a steady flow of migrant staff is rehired. Trainers and homeowners have come to regard them as reliable staff, and some say that the American staff who are hired leave after a few days or weeks.
Low wages are the problem, says Elisabeth Jensen, executive vice president of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, an organization that supports the state’s equine industry.
“We’re also running with our employers to help them perceive it’s not like it was like 20 years ago,” he said.”They are competing with the Amazons and others who can offer more financially.”
Let’s take the example of a Churchill Downs rear employee. An employee hired under the H-2B visa program earns about $11.50 per hour on average, based on knowledge provided through the U.S. Department of Labor. Amazon employees earn $15 an hour. Both pay a more consistent salary than Kentucky’s minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour.
For the Romans, the typical speed of day paintings on the track or in the stables makes it difficult to replace operating hours to meet the demands of American painters.
“A horse will have to eat 3 times a day. They have to exercise at certain times of the day because the races are done in the afternoon,” the Romans said. “So it’s essentially about repositioning when they don’t have to be there, to make it more comfortable.”
Labor shortages can have a dominated effect across the industry. The number of staff determines the number of horses a teacher can face. To accommodate the number of horses with a limited number of staff, running shoes must paint with fewer horses. It affects the sale and breeding of horses, as well as the number of horses that end up in the racecourse.
This month, the U.S. State Department released new rules that allow more foreign staff to enter the U.S., but with the season approaching the end, things are unlikely to replace this year, said Elizabeth Conleyy Buckle, an immigration attorney in Lexington.
“This exemption from the decree will not help them because they have never received a visa,” he said. “So they’ve taken care of any kind of staff they can assemble, from academics to daytime employees, anything they can find.”
Visa applications for racing paints are outnumbered through applicants from the hospitality, structure and landscaping industries. That’s why Buckley would like to see the bride and groom reclassified as farmworkers.
“All my clients have been successful this year, but overall it’s been pretty terrible,” he said. “The wonderful running shoes couldn’t get an H-2B visa at all.”
But even if such adjustments were made, the coronavirus pandemic was also limited among the countries of origin of many employees. For example, much of the staff hired through Buckley’s clients comes from Guatemala and the country has not opened and continues to fight the pandemic.
Laurie Mays, assignment manager at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, is about to become a local for the equestrian industry. She is positive about introducing more American staff into the industry, but insists that the need for migrant staff will still exist when the day comes.
“There aren’t enough people yet, even if all the local skill is involved in the industry, our industry requires a lot of labor and requires a lot of labor,” Mays said. “Horses don’t take vacations, they don’t care about the outside weather.”
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Hudspeth Blackburn is a member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that puts journalists in local newsrooms to report on secret issues.
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