The U.S. issued more than 900,000 visas in fiscal 2019 in the categories Trump plans to freeze.
President Donald Trump signed an ordinance on Monday temporarily suspending access to several job-based visas, affecting hundreds of thousands of people looking to work in the U.S. The technology industry said the move would hurt ‘economy.
The order freezes the new H1-B and H-4 visas used by technology workers and their families, as well as L visas for intra-group transfers and most J visas for work and study programs abroad, including au pairs, until the end of the year.
The issuance of new green cards will also remain suspended until the end of the year.
The action will also suspend certain H2-B visas for seasonal workers, with the exception of those in the food industry, according to a senior administration official who informed journalists on Monday.
Twitter Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. called the order “myopic”, saying that immigrant technical staff could help the United States recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., said on Twitter that he was “disappointed” and that “we will continue to support immigrants and work to increase opportunities for all.”
Trump acted with the United States on an unemployment rate of 13.3% after closing businesses or cutting staff in response to the virus epidemic. The President’s order will not affect immigrant workers who already hold visas.
“In the extraordinary circumstances of the economic contraction resulting from the Covid-19 epidemic, certain non-immigrant visa programs permitting such employment pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers,” Trump said in his order.
Speaking Saturday in an interview with Fox News, Trump said he wants Americans to accept jobs that would otherwise go to visa recipients.
“We have a lot of people looking for work,” he told Fox. “I think it will make a lot of people very happy. And that makes good sense.”
Trump tweeted at the height of the coronavirus pandemic that he planned to “temporarily halt immigration to the United States” Industry groups such as the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Tech Council of information, wrote to Trump expressing concern that the restrictions will disrupt business and hinder growth.
The U.S. issued more than 900,000 visas in fiscal 2019 in the categories Trump plans to freeze.
Critical H-1B
In recent years, the administration has decided to tighten the H-1B program and the approval rate for applications has dropped. The technology industry relies on H-1B visas to hire foreign talent, particularly in the fields of science and engineering. Critics say that some companies have abused the program to displace American workers.
About three-quarters of H-1B visas go to people working in the tech industry, although the exact levels vary from year to year. The number of non-immigrant visas issued in 2019 fell for the fourth consecutive year, to 8.7 million from 10.9 million in 2015, according to the State Department.
CompTIA, a business group representing big tech companies like Amazon and the parent company of Google Alphabet Inc., said the move would be a huge blow to the economy.
“Making bright minds more difficult to work in the United States only benefits our overseas competitors who will attract their talents to build and develop cutting-edge goods and services that create jobs,” said Cinnamon Rogers, executive vice president of CompTIA for public advocacy. .
TechNet, a lobby group that represents most of the world‘s largest technology companies, had pushed the Trump administration to be lenient toward the hundreds of thousands of H-1B owners already in the United States who lost their jobs in the Covid-19 pandemic and now risks falling into illegal status.
Nandini Nair, an immigration partner of Greenspoon Marder, said the new order would have a “huge effect” on American businesses, especially those in the technology sector. Many have spent thousands of dollars to file documents for each H-1B visa applicant, she said.
“They spent all of that money and planned their budgets and their manpower on these visas and now it’s the shot,” said Nair.
The order not only limits the ability of companies to recruit talent abroad, but also affects their current foreign workers who were waiting for their visas. When an H-1B visa is granted to individuals, they must go to a consulate outside the United States, usually in their country of origin, to activate it.
Many workers have been unable to travel since the coronavirus pandemic closed borders around the world. “Many of these workers are now imprisoned in the United States because they do not have a valid visa in their passports – if they leave, they cannot return,” said Nair.
However, James Pack, an immigration attorney at Fragomen Worldwide, who provides advice to tech companies, said the decree would only have a limited impact on U.S. companies, as it only applies to new H-1B candidates outside the country. Those who already work for companies in the United States will not be affected, said Pack.
The current ceiling for these visas is 85,000 per year. H-4 visas are issued to immediate family members of H-1B visa holders.
The H1-B program will be restructured to focus on immigrant candidates with the highest salary offers once the program is restarted next year, said the senior administration official. Under these changes, entry-level workers from colleges are less likely to get visas, as places will be mainly allocated to people with master’s degrees or doctorates working in high-income fields such as commerce, algorithms and IT, said Shannon. Donnelly, partner and lawyer specializing in immigration at Morgan Lewis.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
