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Tag: foreign workers

  • Foreign workers replace Palestinian labor in Israel, face hurdles

    Restructuring of work permits and recruitment policies is reshaping construction, agriculture, and services while raising concerns about long-term economic and social effects.

    After more than two years of war, Israel’s labor market is feeling the consequences, undergoing a striking transformation as longstanding employment patterns are reshaped by new policies, security developments, and shifting economic needs.

    One result of the war has been a sharp reduction in the number of Palestinian laborers permitted to enter Israel. Previously, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were allowed to work in Israel. That figure has fallen as Israel cites major security concerns and a push to wean itself from reliance on Palestinian workers.

    In response, authorities have expanded the entry of foreign workers, altering the composition of the workforce.

    For decades, Palestinian workers, mainly from areas in the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), but also from Gaza, filled a large share of low-paid jobs in agriculture and construction.

    They worked through permits allocated and issued by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA) and by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the military unit responsible for implementing the government’s civilian and humanitarian efforts in the territories.

    An illustrative image of Palestinian laborers working on a construction project in Israel. (credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

    According to Kav LaOved, a nongovernmental organization focused on protecting workers’ rights in Israel, roughly 100,000 Palestinians were employed in Israel. Since October 2023, the entry of Palestinian workers has been cut to about 8,000, driven by heightened security restrictions and political tensions that have disrupted the labor market and major sectors such as construction.

    Data published by PIBA last week showed that almost 61,000 new work permits were issued to foreign workers in 2025 in an attempt to fill the widening labor gap, bringing the total number of foreign workers to 227,044.

    This new migrant workforce is employed not only in construction and agriculture, the traditional sectors of non-Israeli labor, but also increasingly in caregiving, trade, services, and renovation, roles previously held by Palestinian workers.

    Israelis have long been reluctant to fill many of these positions. Part of that reluctance stems from the high cost of living and the preference among many Israelis for higher-paying jobs over lower-paid occupations in sectors now staffed by foreign workers.

    A government decision in May 2024 sought to increase the number of foreign workers, raising the quota to 3.3% of the country’s population. For now, a shortfall of 100,000 workers remains.

    According to Moshe Nakash, director of the Foreign Workers Administration at PIBA, that quota could still rise.

    “There are large numbers of workers coming into Israel in an effort to fill the different quotas of each sector,” Nakash told The Media Line. “This is part of a great effort on our part to close the gap.”

    The recalibration of the workforce has been most acute in sectors heavily reliant on manual labor. Construction firms, already grappling with staffing shortages, are taking advantage of the influx of foreign workers. At the same time, restaurants and manufacturing have begun tapping into foreign labor quotas.

    But while foreign labor alleviates immediate staffing shortages, it also adds complexity to wage dynamics and labor-rights enforcement in a market still reeling from conflict-related disruptions.

    “What we are seeing is no less than a structural change of the labor market, and decision makers must understand the meaning of this,” Dror Litvak, CEO of ManpowerGroup Israel, told The Media Line. “This is not some temporary event and could eventually lead to a rise in unemployment amongst Israelis.”

    BOI: Unemployment in Israel at 2.9%

    Unemployment in Israel currently stands at 2.9%, according to figures published by the Bank of Israel.

    Litvak noted: “If someone thinks that unemployment will remain low, they are mistaken. Foreigners are already occupying positions previously occupied by Israelis.”

    Hamas’ surprise attack and the subsequent war shook Israel to its core. In the labor market, that upheaval left decision makers and employers scrambling for solutions. One key response has been not only to increase the number of foreign workers admitted into the country, but also to expand the sectors in which they are permitted to work.

    “Decision makers are not looking at the long term, and they are trying to put the fires out,” said Litvak. “This will create a completely different reality.”

    Litvak does not see Palestinian laborers being allowed back into Israel in the coming decade.

    For Palestinian workers, their families, and the Palestinian economy, this is a major blow.

    “This is creating a major financial and social crisis that is politically motivated and not based on clear-cut security reasons,” Shai Grunberg, a spokesperson for Gisha, an Israeli NGO that focuses on freedom of movement for Palestinians, told The Media Line.

    Even before the war, the far-right Israeli government pushed to adopt policies that would sever ties with the PA. The outbreak of the war only intensified those calls.

    Some Israeli security officials have called for Palestinian work permits to be reinstated to prevent a major crisis in the PA. The government has not acted on those calls.

    For now, workers from Thailand and Sri Lanka are stocking supermarket shelves and cleaning the streets. Employers say they are satisfied with the new labor supply.

    Litvak also raised concerns about the employment conditions of the new workers.

    “Israel is at risk of creating a slave market rather than a job market,” he said. “The conditions that some of the workers live in are worse than Israeli prisoners, and in the end, this will create even greater problems.”

    In a separate move that has alarmed international aid agencies and the United Nations, Israel has begun a sweeping regulatory overhaul that would drastically affect the work of foreign humanitarian NGOs in Gaza and the West Bank.

    Under new rules enforced from the beginning of 2026, more than 30 organizations face license suspension unless they comply with stringent transparency and registration requirements, including detailed disclosure of Palestinian staff and funding sources.

    Israel will no longer allow NGOs to bring supplies into Gaza or send international staffers into the war-torn territory.

    “The most acute consequence will be to the ability of the civilian population in Gaza to survive,” said Grunberg. “Since the beginning of the war, Israel has hindered the work of the NGOs, and this new mechanism, with its disproportionate and draconian measures, will deal a severe blow to essential health services in Gaza.”

    Proponents within the Israeli government maintain that the measures are needed to prevent exploitation of aid by Palestinian terrorist groups.

    Citing security concerns, the government is determined to implement the policy despite international condemnation. Coupled with tighter control of Palestinian movement and the drastic reduction in Palestinian laborers, Israel appears to be seeking to sever as many connections as possible to Palestinians and the PA.

    “These are different expressions of the same political rationale by which further control over Palestinians and their movements has a greater impact on the civilian population in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Grunberg. “This is a policy that is intended to bring about the falling apart of the fabric of Palestinian life.”

    The reality emerging is not merely a wartime adjustment, but what appears to be a fundamental shift in Israel’s labor market. The rapid replacement of Palestinian workers with foreign labor, alongside tighter restrictions on humanitarian actors, reflects a policy of breaking away from dependence on Palestinian labor, with far-reaching consequences.

    While these measures may ease immediate economic pressures, they risk creating new vulnerabilities, straining labor standards, deepening the crisis in an already struggling Palestinian economy, and potentially fueling greater instability over time.

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  • To ‘protect Americans’: Trump administration imposes new visa process

    The Trump administration is changing how H-1B work visas are awarded.

    The Trump administration is changing how H-1B work visas are awarded.

    Via U.S. State Department

    With the stated goal of “protecting American workers,” the Trump administration has imposed a new visa process that will affect thousands of foreign nationals.

    The new system will affect H-1B visa applications for professionals, which are capped annually at 65,000 visas, with an additional 20,000 reserved for workers holding advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.

    According to USCIS, the change modifies the rules governing visa selection to prioritize applicants who are “more highly skilled and higher paid,” in an effort to better protect wages, working conditions, and opportunities for U.S. workers.

    The policy replaces the current random lottery with a selection process that gives greater weight to skills and salary levels. “The existing random selection process was exploited and abused by U.S. employers seeking to hire foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragresser.

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also released a statement Tuesday outlining changes to the application process under the widely used H-1B work visa program.

    The measure was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through a “final rule” published in the Federal Register. The final rule is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 27, 2026, and will apply to H-1B visa registrations subject to the annual cap for fiscal year 2027, the agency said.

    The change is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten oversight of work visa programs. Through an executive order, the president previously raised the fee for sponsoring an H-1B visa to $100,000, up from about $5,000 or less.

    The move also comes amid renewed scrutiny of other immigration programs, including the Diversity Visa Program, which was recently suspended following a shooting at Brown University in which a Portuguese national was named as the primary suspect.

    Trump had previously sought to end the so-called “visa lottery” program during his first term in 2017.

    The Diversity Visa Program allows thousands of applicants from countries with low immigration rates to the United States to legally enter the country and obtain permanent residency if they meet eligibility requirements.

    This story was originally published December 27, 2025 at 8:44 PM.

    Maykel Gonzalez

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  • How a Work Permit Renewal Change Threatens Companies and Employees With Legal Troubles

    Things just became even more complicated for companies employing foreign nationals, and for the people working here on specialized visas. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced the end to automatic extensions of work permits that expire while their renewal applications were being processed. The change means many legal immigrants — and their employers — risk finding themselves stuck in an employment limbo if that documentation expires before it can be renewed.

    The move is only the most recent initiative in the government’s efforts to discourage or prevent foreign nationals from taking jobs that President Donald Trump says he wants to keep open for U.S. citizens. The push previously involved reducing the flow of both illegal and authorized immigration into the country, and conducting mass deportations of undocumented people. It also featured hiking the fees for H-1B visas granted to highly-educated and -skilled tech, medical, and STEM workers from a few thousand dollars to $100,000. This week’s additional change means that as of Thursday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will no longer extend the validity of work permits whose renewal applications are being processed — often very slowly amid the huge backlog of those requests.

    The shift marks a dramatic and pointedly politically reversal of previous rules.

    Responding to the long delays in the USCIS processing work permit renewals, in May 2022 then-President Joe Biden increased the automatic extension period for those Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) from 180 days to 540 days. At that time, the Wall Street Journal reported the agency was dealing with a bottleneck of 1.5 million applications. Those included renewal requests by “87,000 immigrants whose work authorization has lapsed or is set to in the next 30 days.”

    More recently, a Bloomberg Law report on the automatic extension being ended Thursday said that as of June 30, “more than 165,000 renewals were pending for all work permit holders.”

    Because most renewal applications are made by immigrants whose work and legal status is in order, they are more often than not approved. Aware of that, Biden’s initiative sought a pragmatic workaround to the long delays processing requests that usually got the green light anyway. The longer automatic grace period let visa holders keep working at their jobs until the swamped USCIS could dig its way out of the its administrative hole.

    That approach has now emphatically come to an end.

    “USCIS is placing a renewed emphasis on robust alien screening and vetting, eliminating policies the former administration implemented that prioritized aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security,” said agency director Joseph Edlow in Tuesday’s announcement of the change. “It’s a commonsense measure to ensure appropriate vetting and screening has been completed before an alien’s employment authorization or documentation is extended. All aliens must remember that working in the United States is a privilege, not a right.”

    That means both those immigrant workers and the businesses employing them risk legal trouble if they continue working together once visas run out during re-processing. While there are limited exemptions to the new rule, the USCIS recommends foreign workers file their “renewal application up to 180 days before their EAD expires.”

    Some legal experts suspect that precaution won’t suffice as work permits expire as holders’ renewal requests languish in long processing queues.

    “These are individuals who have done nothing wrong on their end,” Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told Bloomberg Law. “They’re already working, they’ve already been vetted, they’ve timely filed their paperwork. And they are being punished based on government delays.”

    Other labor law experts warn that employers of immigrant workers also risk being penalized when time runs out on working papers under renewal review.

    “This will end up having a huge impact on companies who are likely to face labor shortages as their foreign nationals will no longer be authorized to work without the automatic 540-day extension,” Shanon Stevenson, a partner at labor law firm Fisher Phillips, told human relations news site HR Dive. “Foreign nationals can apply for an EAD extension up to 180 days before expiration, but, in my experience, DHS often takes 8-12+ months to process EADs, which leaves a massive 2-6 month lapse in employment authorization.”

    In the meantime, those shorthanded companies may have a hard time finding U.S. workers to take up the slack. After all, when employers originally recruited to fill those hard, frequently low-paying jobs in construction, hospitality, healthcare, and agriculture, they often wound up hiring immigrant candidates after few Americans were interested in doing the work.

    “The crops will be rotting and won’t be harvested because no Americans want those jobs,” posted Western-Economics946 in a thread on the change on  social media platform Reddit. “How is this beneficial to anyone?”

    Bruce Crumley

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  • Asia-Pacific envoys honor foreign workers killed in Oct 7 attacks

    Ambassadors and representatives from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered Sunday at Kibbutz Be’eri for a memorial honoring foreign workers who were killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

    Ambassadors and representatives from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered on Sunday at Kibbutz Be’eri for a memorial honoring the foreign workers who were killed in Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

    The ceremony, hosted by embassies representing Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and other Asia-Pacific nations, commemorated dozens of foreign nationals whose lives were cut short while living and working in Israel.

    Many of the victims were caregivers, agricultural laborers, and students who had come seeking opportunity and became part of Israeli life.

    A representative of Nepal’s embassy came in place of Ambassador Dhan Prasad Pandit, who had not returned to Israel yet, as he was involved in the repatriation of slain Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi.

    Joshi was killed in Hamas captivity. Previously released footage of him by the terrorists had shown him alive.

    Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit Gaza border communities during the attack, was home to many of the victims.

    Four Filipinos, two Sri Lankans, and one Australian were killed there. Moreover, two Thai workers were abducted and later killed in Gaza. The body of one Thai national, Sudthisak Rinthalak, has remained in Gaza for over two years.

    During the memorial service, Thai Ambassador Boonyarit Vichienpuntu talked about the 28,000 Thai nationals currently living and working in Israel, most of them in agriculture.

    “They were highly commended for their hard work, dedication, and kindness,” he said. “They helped cultivate this land and feed this nation. Gradually, they became an integral part of the Israeli economy and society.”

    The ambassador paid tribute to the 42 Thai citizens murdered during the Hamas assault, including Sudthisak, who had worked in Be’eri.

    “He will never be forgotten,” Boonyarit said. “We strongly call, once again, for the long-awaited release of his body and all other remaining victims.”

    Speaking afterward to The Jerusalem Post, Boonyarit said that Thai officials were awaiting news regarding Sudthisak’s body, hoping that it would be retrieved and returned to his hometown. Boonyarit expressed confidence in the government and its ongoing efforts to bring the remains home.

    The ceremony included remarks from Aviv Ezra, the deputy director-general for Asia-Pacific affairs at the Foreign Ministry, who said that the foreign workers’ deaths were also Israel’s loss. “We are better together. We are stronger together,” he said.

    ‘Remembering those who are no longer beside us by paying attention to those who are’

    Vietnamese Ambassador Ly Duc Trung, serving as the dean of the Asia-Pacific ambassadors, called not only for remembrance but also for keeping the foreign workers’ living conditions in mind.

    He said he had requested that the Israeli government address safety, shelter during conflict, and labor policies affecting foreign nationals.

    “We believe that the best way to remember those who are no longer beside us is by paying due attention to those who still are,” Trung said.

    Filipino Ambassador Aileen Mendiola spoke of four of her nation’s people who were murdered on October 7: Paul Vincent Castelvi and Grace Cabrera, both killed in Be’eri, Angelyn Aguirre, murdered in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Loreta Alacre, who was in the South at the time of the attacks.

    In the crowd were Filipino caregivers who survived the massacre, as well as one who was released from captivity in the November 2023 deal. Additionally, parents of fallen Filipino soldiers killed in Israel’s fight to return the captives were also in attendance.

    “Many of them showed extraordinary courage and devotion in protecting and saving their employers during those terrifying hours,” Mendiola told the attendees.

    “Despite the terrifying danger, they continued to fight for their saba [grandfather in Hebrew] and savta [grandmother],” the envoy said.

    “Their strength amid grief reminds us of the immense cost of the conflict, carried not only by nations, but by families, parents, spouses, and children whose lives are forever changed,” she added, calling for the return of Joshua Mollel, the Tanzanian agricultural student whose body is still held captive by Hamas, and all remaining hostages.

    “One too many lives,” Mendiola stated.

    Sri Lanka’s envoy spoke of the two slain Sri Lankan hostages, both murdered in Be’eri while working as caregivers. 49-year-old Anula Jayathilaka and 41-year-oldSujth Yatawara Bandara both had families back home they were working to support.

    Sri Lanka Ambassador Nimal Bandara paid homage to his constituents, but chose to also mention what he said was Israel’s continued commitment to “paying dues, salaries, and compensation [to the surviving families] on time.”

    “We cannot compensate for the lives sacrificed by paying money, but the government and the relevant agencies are paying attention to the families of those who lost their lives, who depended on them,” Bandara said.

    He listed the nationalities of the 71 foreign workers murdered on October 7: 39 Thai, 11 Nepali, four Filipino, four Chinese, two Sri Lankan, two Eritrean, two British, one Cambodian, one Australian, one Tanzanian, one German, one Sudanese, one Canadian, and one British-Mexican dual citizen.

    “We are gathered here today to respect their contribution to Israel’s society and the country and to respect their family members who contributed to protect this land and help the new society,” the ambassador said.

    Diplomats, Israeli officials, ex-hostages, survivors, and bereaved families attended the ceremony, which featured interfaith prayers led by a Catholic priest and a Buddhist monk, candle-lighting rites, and tribute performances.

    In a statement from Kibbutz Be’eri, community director Yiftach Zeliniker expressed deep sorrow for the foreign caregivers who died protecting residents that day, including Cabrera and Castelvi of the Philippines, and Jayathilaka and Yatawara of Sri Lanka.

    “I am sorry that we could not protect your loved ones on that terrible day,” Zeliniker said. “Your loved ones protected and cared for our members, and we will be eternally grateful for that.”

    He also thanked the foreign workers who remained in Be’eri. “Living and working with a community in trauma are immense challenges,” he said. “We are grateful to you for staying with us and caring for our beloved kibbutz members.”

    The Asia-Pacific embassies and the Be’eri community said the commemoration was not only a remembrance of those lost but also a reaffirmation of the enduring bonds between Israel and the Asia-Pacific nations whose citizens have shared in its pain, continuing to help rebuild its future.

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  • Here’s how Trump is changing the H-1B visa program

    Here’s how Trump is changing the H-1B visa program

    The Trump administration is overhauling a visa program intended for high-skilled workers by hiking the application fee to $100,000 annually.

    Updated: 5:11 AM PDT Sep 20, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    President Donald Trump is overhauling a visa program intended for high-skilled workers by hiking the application fee to $100,000 annually from $215. It’s the latest step from the Trump administration aimed at limiting legal immigration. The move could shake up hiring strategies in major industries like technology, finance, health care and higher education. The H-1B visa program aims to bring in foreign workers for high-skilled, hard-to-fill jobs. Historically, these visas have been awarded through a lottery system. Opponents argue that businesses are abusing the program to pay overseas workers lower wages. At a press conference on Friday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the steeper application fee will incentivize companies to hire Americans instead. He predicted program usage will ultimately fall below the current 85,000 annual cap as a result. “Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” Lutnick said. This year, top recipients of H-1B visas included Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Google.In the past, debates over the future of the program have divided members of Trump’s coalition. Some have called for lower caps or eliminating H-1B visas entirely. Big Tech allies, like billionaire Elon Musk (a former H-1B recipient), contend the program plays a critical role in keeping American businesses competitive by attracting top talent from around the world.”The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk posted in December during a social media spat on this topic. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.” Also on Friday, Trump rolled out a new visa pathway that he’s calling the “Trump Gold Card.” It allows vetted individuals to pay $1 million in exchange for an expedited process and a pathway to lawful permanent resident status, according to the program’s website. Corporations sponsoring individuals would have to pay $2 million. “It’s going to raise billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, which is going to reduce taxes, pay off debt, and other good things,” Trump said. Critics argue that Trump can’t take these steps without approval from Congress. The plan is expected to face legal challenges.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump is overhauling a visa program intended for high-skilled workers by hiking the application fee to $100,000 annually from $215.

    It’s the latest step from the Trump administration aimed at limiting legal immigration. The move could shake up hiring strategies in major industries like technology, finance, health care and higher education.

    The H-1B visa program aims to bring in foreign workers for high-skilled, hard-to-fill jobs. Historically, these visas have been awarded through a lottery system.

    Opponents argue that businesses are abusing the program to pay overseas workers lower wages. At a press conference on Friday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the steeper application fee will incentivize companies to hire Americans instead. He predicted program usage will ultimately fall below the current 85,000 annual cap as a result.

    “Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs,” Lutnick said.

    This year, top recipients of H-1B visas included Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Google.

    In the past, debates over the future of the program have divided members of Trump’s coalition. Some have called for lower caps or eliminating H-1B visas entirely. Big Tech allies, like billionaire Elon Musk (a former H-1B recipient), contend the program plays a critical role in keeping American businesses competitive by attracting top talent from around the world.

    “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk posted in December during a social media spat on this topic. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”

    Also on Friday, Trump rolled out a new visa pathway that he’s calling the “Trump Gold Card.” It allows vetted individuals to pay $1 million in exchange for an expedited process and a pathway to lawful permanent resident status, according to the program’s website. Corporations sponsoring individuals would have to pay $2 million.

    “It’s going to raise billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, which is going to reduce taxes, pay off debt, and other good things,” Trump said.

    Critics argue that Trump can’t take these steps without approval from Congress. The plan is expected to face legal challenges.

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