# The Outer Banks seasonal workers > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The Outer Banks seasonal workers," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-outer-banks-seasonal-workers/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's observation, from years of family summers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, that he never encountered an American lifeguard and almost no American shop clerks or waiters — the staff being Bulgarian, Romanian, Moldovan and otherwise Eastern European, working on the cheap, housed eight to twelve to a house and sent home at the end of the season.* - **Where:** The Outer Banks of North Carolina - **When:** Summers, while Kiriakou was married - **Who he encountered:** No American lifeguards; almost no American clerks or waiters - **Origins:** Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and elsewhere in Eastern Europe - **Housing:** Eight to twelve people per house - **Pay:** Minimum wage; sent back at the end of the season - **Kiriakou's position:** Not permissible while a single American is unemployed or underemployed **The Outer Banks seasonal workers** are the illustration John Kiriakou offered in November 2025, during a discussion of the Trump Organization's applications for hundreds of H-2A and H-2B visas for Mar-a-Lago, its golf clubs and its Virginia estates.[1] ## The context Rall set out the numbers: 184 visa requests for farm hands, housekeepers and servers, up from 121 in 2021, for a running total of 566 — with the president telling Fox that he cannot find anyone good to work.[1][2] Kiriakou's first answer was that the practice is not new and was an issue in the 2016 campaign: every year the Trump Organization brings these people in rather than hiring Americans, looking for cheaper foreign workers.[3] ## What he saw himself His own evidence is domestic and first-hand. When he was married the family used to go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina every summer — clean, green, beautiful, and a place they loved.[3] *"We never encountered an American lifeguard."* Nor, almost, any American store clerks, shop clerks, waiters or waitresses. They were all from Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova — all over Eastern Europe.[3][4] The reason he gives is the terms of the work: they work on the cheap, the conditions are poor, and — as on a ship — the hours are ridiculous. They live in group houses, eight or ten or twelve people to a house, are paid the minimum wage, and are sent back at the end of the season. Rall's word for the arrangement, which Kiriakou did not soften, was *disposable*.[4][5] ## His position Kiriakou's own view is stated without qualification: *"I'm so against this. I mean, as long as there's one underemployed or unemployed American, this should just not be permitted."*[5] He is also explicit that this is a long-standing position rather than a reaction to the current administration. Asked to respond to a viewer arguing that opposition to unlimited labour importation ought to be a left-wing position too, he agreed and added the disclosure: *"I'm on the record for favoring a border wall back in the 1990s."*[6][7] ## See also - [The visa reciprocity rule](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-visa-reciprocity-rule) - [Mexican 9 Month Work Visas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mexican-9-month-work-visas) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 52:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3124s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 2. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 52:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3156s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 3. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 54:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3281s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 4. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 55:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3312s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 5. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 55:42. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3342s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 6. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 56:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3404s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ 7. Trump Snubs US Workers at Mar-a-Lago (2025-11-13), at 57:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmAUQl5FXA&t=3435s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-11-13-deprogram-ted-rall-trump-snubs-us-workers-at-mar-a-lago/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-outer-banks-seasonal-workers/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt