President Donald Trump’s moratorium on a key immigration pathway is sowing fear in the U.S. technology industry, which relies on a small but critical pool of immigrant talent.
The 60-day ban on green cards hits immigrants seeking permanent residency in the U.S. on family-based petitions the hardest, but it could have consequences for employment-based applications, too. Trump initially described a broad immigration ban in a tweet on Monday but said Tuesday during a press conference that temporary work visas would be exempt from the order. That shift is seen as a capitulation to business.
Update: The White House said Wednesday afternoon that Trump signed the executive order restricting immigration.
President @realDonaldTrump just signed a proclamation temporarily suspending immigration into the United States.
This will ensure unemployed Americans will be FIRST in line for jobs as our economy re-opens and preserve our healthcare resources for American patients.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 22, 2020
Immigration experts say foreign-born tech workers who are currently working in the U.S. aren’t immediately imperiled. However, the uncertainty that the order casts could impact the international talent pool long-term and hinder technology companies’ recruiting efforts.
I came to the US and instead of taking American jobs, I helped create jobs and billions of dollars in value. Using the virus to stop the Green Card process will hurt companies like @duolingo. We’ll have to open offices and move jobs outside the US because of this. ?
— Luis von Ahn (@LuisvonAhn) April 22, 2020
Tech workers brought to the U.S. by companies like Microsoft and Amazon often agree to immigrate on a temporary work visa because there is a pathway to permanent residency, for example. That path is obscured by the president’s ban, which could extend beyond 60 days, Trump said.
“Immigrants are vital to our company & the nation’s economy,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said Tuesday on Twitter. “Today, they’re helping us respond to COVID-19 in healthcare, research, IT, infrastructure, food supply, & more.”
The executive order could also extend delays that are dogging immigration administrators under shutdown orders.
“This is going to be a tremendous load on USCIS, a system that is already multiple months behind due to field office and administrative shutdowns,” said Xiao Wang, CEO of Boundless Immigration, a Seattle startup that streamlines green card applications. “It also adds a huge amount of uncertainty for companies around what happens to the workers that are already here.”
What Trump says: The president says the executive order will protect American workers from being replaced by immigrants after the coronavirus lockdowns are lifted. “It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrant labor flown in from abroad,” Trump said Tuesday. “We must first take care of the American worker.”
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020
Yes but: Advocates for more restrictive immigration policies frequently take aim at temporary work visas, like the H-1B, as mechanisms for replacing American workers. By exempting those visas from the restrictions, they say, the executive order does little to protect domestic jobs. The coronavirus crisis also has many employers cutting back on hiring altogether. Many companies, like Microsoft, have implemented partial hiring freezes.
“There doesn’t seem to be a logical internal consistency within the immigration ban between the stated purpose and the latest iteration,” Wang said.
By the numbers: Under normal economic conditions, American tech workers do rely heavily on temporary work visas to recruit international talent each year. The U.S. government awarded more H-1B visas for skilled workers to Amazon than any other company in fiscal year 2019.
Amazon received clearance to hire 3,575 workers using the H-1B visa last year. Microsoft received 1,706 approvals, according to data compiled by the National Foundation for American Policy. But the U.S. government is rejecting a higher percentage of H-1B petitions than in years prior. In fiscal year 2019, 21% of applications were rejected, up from 6% in 2015.
I will be signing my Executive Order prohibiting immigration into our Country today. In the meantime, even without this order, our Southern Border, aided substantially by the 170 miles of new Border Wall & 27,000 Mexican soldiers, is very tight – including for human trafficking!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020
Big picture: Although the 60-day ban is stoking new fears in the immigrant and tech communities, it builds on a steady stream of policy changes that curb legal immigration. Green card approvals for new arrivals declined 13% between 2018-2019, and applicants reported more bureaucratic hurdles and red tape than prior to the Trump administration. The federal government has already slowed down visa processing, implemented travel restrictions, and rolled out other policies that restrict immigration in response to the coronavirus crisis.
“There’s a clear message, which reflects this administration’s campaign statements, of discouraging immigration and making it difficult,” Wang said. “As an immigrant myself and a job creator in this country, it’s disheartening to feel that this country that my family aspired to be part of … is going to both discourage and turn away millions of families, potentially, who also want to come here and make a difference in the world.”
