Four weeks before the election, the Trump administration announced stricter rules for the H-1B visa program, which US businesses have long valued
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Tuesday announced significant changes to the H-1B visa program for highly skilled workers, dramatically increasing the wages US companies must pay for overseas hires and lowering the criteria eligibility of candidates
Senior administration officials have touted the changes as a way to protect American jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, even though the Trump administration first pledged to revise the program in 2017 as part its efforts to reduce the number of foreign nationals employed in the United States States
« As millions of Americans look for work and the economy continues to recover, immediate action is needed to guard against the risk that cheaper foreign labor can pose for the good. -be US workers, ”Patrick Pizzella, Deputy Secretary of Labor, told reporters on Tuesday.
The rules will directly affect foreign workers and employers, especially tech companies that have long supported the H-1B program and have pushed for its expansion
Kenneth T Cuccinelli, Acting Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, said he expected the changes to reduce the number of petitions filed each year for coveted visas by a third
The changes will be released this week as « provisional final rules, » meaning the agency believes it has « good reason » to seek an exemption from the normal requirement to obtain comments from the public before finalizing them
Lawyers and immigration experts predicted the changes would be quickly challenged in court as they bypassed the normal regulatory process
« The public hasn’t even seen these regulations yet and won’t have the usual opportunity to comment, as Congress requires, » said Doug Rand, founder of Boundless Immigration, a tech company from Seattle helping immigrants get green cards and citizenship « Given the inevitability of court challenges, it seems unlikely that these policies are designed to last »
The government issues 85,000 H-1B visas each year, often using a lottery to award them as the number of workers sought by companies almost always exceeds the number of visas available Many workers are ultimately sponsored by their employers to get green cards to stay permanently in the United States
Some critics have suggested that the changes less than a month before the presidential election were politically motivated
« Why this, why now and why is this an interim final rule? » asked Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross-border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. « There is no estimate of how many jobs this would actually free up for US workers. It’s a chance at best »
Department of Labor rule, which goes into effect upon publication, would raise wages for foreign workers at all levels, based on surveys of wages in each occupation Companies should pay entry-level workers on the program in the 45th percentile of their occupation’s wages rather than the 17th percentile Wages of more skilled workers would increase to the 95th percentile, from 67th percentile
« This will likely also result in higher personnel costs for some employers, » according to the Department of Labor rule. « The goal of protecting US workers outweighs these interests and justifies these increased costs, » added the ‘agency
But Stephen Yale-Loehr, professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School, said the rule would have « the opposite effect »
« By raising the required wages, the new rules will harm all employers who try to hire foreign workers, but especially start-ups and small businesses that may not be able to meet the wage demands increased « , he declared
The Department of Homeland Security rule, which takes effect in 60 days, would also tighten visa applicants’ eligibility The rule would require foreign workers to hold a degree in the « skilled profession » for which they are applying, rather than » a college diploma Some would also need to show how their education provided « a body of highly specialized knowledge » for potential employment in the United States.
The bulk of H-1B visa holders are employed by the tech industry, where they work as computer engineers and software developers.However, visas are also issued to architects, accountants and doctors, among a variety of professionals
The rule will almost certainly have a negative effect on rural hospitals and other health care providers who depend on a steady pipeline of foreign doctors because they cannot attract enough American doctors, who generally prefer to practice in the urban areas
For example, instead of offering a minimum starting salary of between $ 120,000 and $ 130,000, a clinic in northeastern Pennsylvania, considered an underserved area, would have to pay around 195,000 or 200,000 dollars to a foreign doctor
« Entry-level physicians in rural areas should be offered an experienced level salary, which may be higher than what their supervisor is paid, » said William A Stock, an immigration lawyer in Philadelphia « It will further restrict the supply of doctors wishing to relocate to parts of rural America This will embarrass providers that they cannot afford to hire foreign-born doctors «
The H-1B rule follows a proclamation signed by President Trump in June that suspended a series of worker visas until at least December 31. Groups representing thousands of companies contested the proclamation, which concerned H-1B, H-2B seasonal work visas, L-1 visas for executives transferred by companies and J-1 cultural exchange visas, including au pairs
The groups were granted a stay last week, when a federal judge ruled that Mr. Trump had overstepped his authority by banning visas
« There must be some constraint on presidential authority in the domestic sphere so as not to turn the executive into a fully monarchical power, » said the judge
His order contradicts an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Washington, DC, which guaranteed that the final decision would be made by an appeals court
But he immediately put aside the ban on companies that employ large numbers of foreign workers
H-1B visa, travel visa, presidency of Donald Trump, US Department of Homeland Security
World news – US – Trump wants to tighten up access to visas for highly skilled foreign workers
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
