NASSAU, Bahamas – William Douglass, an American businessman with a home in Eleuthera, wants the Trump administration to issue temporary work visas to Bahamians displaced by Hurricane Dorian.
“The US administration should consider issuing anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 temporary work visas for a minimum of six months to displaced Bahamian workers,” he said in a statement yesterday, The Tribune, one of The Bahamas’ leading daily newspapers, reported on Thursday, September 26.
Mr. Douglass added: “Bahamians don’t want to emigrate to the US nor are they at risk of overstaying their welcome. Bahamians want to live in The Bahamas, full stop. In tandem with the Bahamian government, the US Border Patrol should consider expediting a process wherein temporary visa recipients could work in the US on a short-term basis, at no cost to state and federal budgets, immigration officials or American taxpayers. With a scarcity of employees in the hospitality and service industries, the benefits of offering work visas to displaced Bahamian workers would be a win-win for both US businesses and Bahamian employees.”
Mr Douglass also called on American companies to quickly help The Bahamas. Echoing the views of US Senator Marco Rubio, he said the Chinese will fill the void if the US does not step in.
“For years both the State Department and the Department of Defence have been concerned abut the Chinese presence so close to the United States – and unless they take proactive steps to counteract this incursion, they are right to be worried,” he said. http://www.tribune242.com/news/2019/sep/26/businessman-give-5000-work-visas-bahamians/
