NTRA’s Rooney Confident Trump Will Leave Backstretches And Farms Alone But Fear Still Widespread Within The Sport

[Wandering Eyes]

by Bill Finley and Dan Ross

Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigrants, a promise he has kept during the first few weeks of his new administration. That has created much uncertainly on the backstretches of the nation's racetracks and at the horse farms spread across the country, both of which rely heavily on foreign labor. Should the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set its sights on racing and start deporting backstretch employees that would mean a major crisis for a sport.

A former Republican Congressman who represented Palm Beach County in Florida, Tom Rooney is currently the President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. He understands why Trump's re-election has many in the industry frighted. But while Rooney acknowledged that Trump can be hard to read, he also said that he doesn't see the President focusing his attention on the horse racing and breeding industries.

“I wouldn't say there's nothing to be worried about, but certainly the focus right now is on people who are here illegally without any kind of worker permit, like an H2-B or H-2A visas,” he said. “We certainly can't afford a labor shortage. That is for sure.”

There's no telling how many backstretch workers are in this country illegally, but thousands are here working under visa programs designed to allow certain industries–horse racing among them–to hire foreign workers to do jobs most Americans are unwilling to do. An H-2B visa is a visa that allows foreign nationals to work temporarily in the United States in non-agricultural jobs, which racing falls under. Backstretch workers here under the H-2B program are, presumably, protected and won't be deported.

There is a cap on how many H-2B visa can be issued in a year. Traditionally, the number has been around 66,000, a portion of which goes to the racing industry. There is also a H-2A visa that is used for agricultural employees, including those who work at horse farms. There is no annual cap on the number of H-2A visas that can be issued.

Ken McPeek | Tod Marks

“We utilize the H-2B at the racetrack and H-2A program at our farms,” said trainer Kenny McPeek. “They are vital to the functioning of our operation. I really don't see any of that changing or anyone coming in and ending the H-2B program. Because there is so much work to be done on a daily basis, I think they've increased the number of visas available over the years. I don't think my employees are worried at all.”

Another trainer, who asked that his name not be used, will only hire workers he has researched on a government website called E-Verify.com. The website cross checks several other government websites, like those of the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, to verify whether or not the prospective employee is in the country legally.

“We're good,” the trainer said. “Especially now in Florida, we have to jump through a lot of hoops, so we have to E-Verify everyone. I'm sure not all trainers are that way. There are a lot of places that have a lot of players that cannot E-Verify. In Florida, if you have, I want to say 20 or more employees, you have to E-Verify everyone and our office has been doing that for a long time. If they can't be E-Verified we won't hire them.”

Rooney points out that Trump himself has relied on the H-2B program to hire employees at some of his golf clubs, resorts and hotels.

“Remember, this is a guy who owns hotels, golf courses and restaurants and relies on a lot of migrant labor,” Rooney said. “He works in an industry, hospitality, that relies on a very similar population as horse racing does. I think he sees the need for certain type of labor that can only be gained through these visa programs. If anybody understands who these populations are and where they come from it is Trump. Instead, I can see him being hard on people who are illegals and have committed crimes. That is the low hanging fruit, and he will go after that.

“I think at this point they are looking at people who are in this country who have committed subsequent crimes. That could include some people who work on the backstretch or at the farm. But the idea of Trump 'Okay-ing' a massive round up at a place like a racetrack or any kind of farm or factory seems unlikely to me. I am basing this on his first administration. There were a couple of times where he went to a chicken plant or something like that. He did that once or twice and that was it. To single out people who are working and don't have any other blemishes on his record, I don't see that.”

Dale Romans said that to the best of his knowledge all of his employees have H-2B visa. He hopes that instead of cutting back on the number of these visas it issues that the federal government will realize making even more H-2B's available will help solve some of the problems.

“I hope everything is going to be fine,” Romans said. “The industry can't survive without immigrant workers. The biggest problem is the H-2B visas. Those are the only ones that fit us and it's only a 10-month visa. They make it very difficult to get and it's very expensive and there is a lot of paperwork. If there was an easier system to get a better visa it would sure make life a lot easier. If we had that we wouldn't have immigrants who are illegal working here.”

Romans can afford to pay for the visas for his employees, but believes some smaller trainers may not be able to do so.

“It is costly and the trainer has to pay all the expenses,” he said. “I don't know how smaller trainers can afford to get the visas. I have had a lot of people, including grooms and hotwalkers, who I don't even know, ask me what I think is going to happen. Are they going to be okay? I really don't know what to tell them. I tell them to just hang in there for now.”

Oscar de la Torre, a labor advocate who works extensively with the backstretch community in California, confirms that many backstretch workers in California are scared and are looking for assurances that they will not deported.

He said that ICE's focus on other industries in the state have put the immigrant community at large on high alert. No racetrack backstretches have proven a target of border patrol or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as yet, but there have been raids in other industries.

A groom at work on the backstretch | Sarah Andrew

“They've expanded the target, and they've expanded the fear and the anxiety in the immigrant community,” said de la Torre, about the new administration's approach.”

Indeed last month, immigration raids in the Central Valley town of Bakersfield reportedly led to a significant dearth of farm workers showing up to pick fruit and vegetables in the nation's breadbasket.

“A lot of these workers are very close and word travels fast. If they have a cousin in Bakersfield and he was harassed, they're going to hear about it in Arcadia or anywhere else,” said de la Torre.

Will Velie, an immigration attorney with many clients in horse racing, said he too is unaware of any targeted backstretch immigration raids around the country. But he added that all horse disciplines are likely being impacted in some fashion.

“I'm hearing stuff from all four corners of the country, but I can't tell how much is rumor and how much is fact,” said Velie. “It's hard to say exactly what's going on at the moment.”

Among some of the anecdotes relayed back to Velie just this week, he said, are stories of checkpoints being set up close to a Thoroughbred farm near Lexington, a horse trainer in Texas who told him several local tire companies had suddenly closed due to immigrations raids, and a Harness racing farm in Kentucky where the workers are too terrified to leave the property for fear of being picked up.

“As long as they're on private property at this time, I think they're fine. I think when they leave, especially if they don't have a driver's license, they're very vulnerable,” said Velie, adding that the Trump administration has widened the net by which undocumented workers who have a brush with the law are then pulled in for deportation proceedings.

“The way it's working now is that they're driving, they get pulled over, they don't have a driver's license, they get taken in and they get picked up by ICE,” said Velie. “Everybody's a priority now, and anybody who comes into contact with them are going to be put into proceedings.”

With this in mind, both de la Torre and Velie stressed the importance for racing's immigrant community to understand their rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution, as outlined under these popular “Red Cards.”

Furthermore, while law enforcement officers will sometimes try to use an “Administrative Warrant” to enter a private property, said Velie, they can only do so if they have a “Judicial Warrant.”

“The way you can tell the difference is if it says, 'Department of Homeland Security,' it's an administrative warrant. If it says something like, 'Judicial District of Northern Kentucky, United States Court,' then it's an official judge's warrant,” said Velie.

“While I should be fine, my hope is that this is all about cleaning up the trash and nothing else” said the trainer who uses the E-Verify website. “Let them go after the real bad guys. That's fine. But not the people who are here legally and working so hard and have done nothing wrong. That would be crippling for the sport.”

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