Trump's student visa pause threatens restaurant staffing
Since reopening in 2014, Brennan's Restaurant in the French Quarter has struggled to stay fully staffed — but general manager Christian Pendleton says they've gotten closer in recent years thanks to overseas recruiting.
Why it matters: Now, that's in jeopardy as the Trump administration cracks down on the student visas that Brennan's and others in the hospitality industry use to fill their ranks.
Catch up quick: Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive this week ordering U.S. embassies to pause student visa applications, Axios' Jason Lalljee reports.
The Trump administration is also considering requiring a review of visa applicants' social media.
State of play: At Brennan's, which needs about 250 people to operate, the restaurant hires staff as interns through culinary and hospitality schools in the students' home countries. Once here, they work through a yearlong track either in front-of-house hospitality or in the kitchen, owner Ralph Brennan tells Axios New Orleans.
The students, Brennan said, earn the same wages and benefits as their local counterparts.
How it works: The visas that interns for Brennan's and other hospitality industry employers use fall under the J-1 category, which is impacted by the pause.
F-1 visas are for those enrolled in academic programs, such as at colleges and universities, and J-1 visas are for those enrolled in specific educational exchange programs.
What they're saying:"We were worried about places that could take students just to use them as cheap labor, but we don't feel that way," said Princes Arevalo, a previous Brennan's exchange staffer, in a 2016 conversation with The Times-Picayune's Ian McNulty. "We feel lucky to be here, because they have a program and a plan for us."
Brennan declined to connect Axios New Orleans with a current student out of concern for their visa status.
Flashback: Soon after the restaurant's 2014 reopening, Pendleton went to Brennan with an idea to explore hiring students from overseas.
"Ralph was apprehensive," Pendleton said during a media event this week. "He wanted Americans to have these jobs, especially New Orleanians."
But, eventually, as hiring remained difficult, Brennan relented, telling him to "give it a shot," Pendleton recalled.
Pendleton hit the road to interview students interested in learning high-end hospitality in the Southern U.S. He has since made near-annual recruiting trips.
The first group of students came from the Philippines. Soon enough, others followed from Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa, especially.
"The first year … we interviewed like 600 kids," Pendleton said, noting that the hiring source has been especially valuable since the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, the interns have become a unique part of Brennan's staff as they experience life in New Orleans and exchange cultural experiences — especially food — with their new colleagues.
By the numbers: Today, about 10% of Brennan's staff are J-1 visa holders, Brennan says, which is the most the government allows.
If their ability to continue the program disappears, Brennan says, "it will have an impact."
"It won't be crushing," he clarifies, "but I hope it doesn't [disappear] because it's been a very successful program for us."
What we're watching: It's not clear when the Trump administration will lift its pause on visa application interviews.
"I don't know what [the post-pause] process will be, but we've had no trouble with any of these individuals because they're here to learn," Brennan said. "They ask a lot of questions, they work really hard, they want to learn and take their skills back to their home country."
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