Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) is complaining that President Donald Trump’s increased scrutiny of foreign nationals seeking temporary work visas is preventing Colorado ski resorts from importing foreign J-1 visa workers to fill American jobs.
“Trump’s attacks on legal immigration are hurting Colorado’s economy,” Pettersen wrote in a post on X. “60% of ski resorts rely on workers with J-1 visas, and many are now scrambling as they are unable to fill the positions needed. When we shut immigrants out, we hurt our local businesses, our tourism industry, and our economy.”
Pettersen cited a recent piece from the Aspen Times that highlighted complaints from the National Ski Areas Association, which represents ski resorts, like those in Colorado, with a long history of importing foreign J-1 visa workers to take seasonal jobs.
The J-1 visa, plagued with decades of abuse and fraud, has been used to traffic young foreign nationals into the U.S. under the program’s guise as a foreign exchange and cultural initiative.
One such case was reported by the Salt Lake Tribune in 2023, where 12 Argentinian nationals had to share a one-bedroom apartment in Park City, Utah, after arriving in the U.S. on J-1 visas to work seasonal jobs.
Pettersen was eviscerated in the replies to her X post.
“This tweet perfectly illustrates how appeals to social justice are often used to mask policies that advance corporate power and labor exploitation,” U.S. Tech Workers, which advocates for American workers against outsourcing schemes, wrote in reply:
Private equity consolidation in the ski industry has caused consumer costs to skyrocket, eroded local resort cultures, and replaced local staff with low-wage seasonal labor hired through the J-1 visa program, a nonimmigrant “cultural exchange” program that in practice functions as a cheap labor pipeline with minimal wage enforcement and exemptions from FICA taxes. [Emphasis added]
To conceal this crony capitalist rot, [Rep. Pettersen] instead frames the issue as an attack on “immigrants” — which J-1 visa holders are not, and has chosen to side with the private equity firms. [Emphasis added]
“Is this a joke? College students and young Americans are suffering through one of the worst job markets in modern times,” the job website Barefoot Student wrote in reply. “Everybody knows that ski resorts get a payroll tax advantage for employing J-1 visa holders. Hire American workers, especially in tough times.”
“First, J-1 visa holders aren’t considered ‘immigrants,’” Project for Immigration Reform wrote to Pettersen. “Their visas explicitly state they’re on a *nonimmigrant* status. Second, it’s shameful that you side with an industry that’s driven down wages for local Coloradans and now relies on cheap foreign labor to boost profits.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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