US President Donald Trump is considering suspending a number of employment visas, including the H-1B, in view of the massive unemployment in America because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a media report.
The proposed suspension could extend into the government’s new fiscal year beginning on October 1, when many new visas are issued, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday quoting unnamed administration officials.
“That could bar any new H-1B holder outside the country from coming to work until the suspension is lifted, though visa holders already in the country are unlikely to be affected,” the The Journal reported.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Such a decision by the Trump administration is likely to have an adverse impact on thousands of Indian IT professionals. Already a large number of Indians on H-1B visas have lost their jobs and are headed back home.
The White House, however, said that no final decision has been made and the administration is considering various proposals.
“The administration is currently evaluating a wide range of options, formulated by career experts, to protect American workers and job seekers especially disadvantaged and underserved citizens — but no decisions of any kind have been made,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement.
In addition to the H-1B visas, the suspension could apply to the H-2B visa for short-term seasonal workers, the J-1 visa for short-term workers including camp counselors and au pairs and the L-1 visa for internal company transfers, The Journal reported.
Meanwhile, the US chambers of commerce CEO, Thomas Donohue, on Thursday wrote a letter to Trump, expressing concern over his reported move on temporary work visas.
“As the economy rebounds, American businesses will need assurances that they can meet all their workforce needs. To that end, it is crucial that they have access to talent both domestically and from around the world,” Donohue wrote in a letter to Trump.
According to The Hill newspaper, Donohue said that American businesses need L-1 visa holders, who have a work visa valid for a relatively short amount of time. He said the importance of H-1B visa holders, who have a work visa valid for multiple years, including technology, accounting and manufacturers, the newspaper said.
“Policies that would, for example, impose wide-ranging bans on the entry of nonimmigrant workers or impose burdensome new regulatory requirements on businesses that employ foreign nationals would undermine that access to talent and in the process, undercut our economy’s ability to grow and create jobs,” Donohue added.
Immigrant policies
The Trump administration is continuing to advance policies to restrict legal immigration, halting the flow of foreign workers and raising the bar for asylum seekers hoping for sanctuary, including making permanent some of the rules put in place as “emergency” curbs for the coronavirus.
