Trump’s restrictions on business immigration

Former President Donald Trump always had the intention of reducing immigration, and the sudden arrival of the global Coronavirus pandemic to North American territory allowed his administration to increase restrictions on the local immigration system on grounds of health emergency.

One of the areas most affected by Trump’s rules was business immigration, which has contributed greatly to the socioeconomic development of local companies and the US’ international competitiveness throughout history.

Employment-based immigration programs offer a wide variety of options available to all kinds of foreign workers, from farmers or other workers in the US food supply chain, to highly skilled or inexperienced workers.

As part of the emergency measures related to the global health crisis, the Trump administration suspended the issuance of H-1B visas in June 2020, a restriction that was supposed to be in effect until the end of the year. However, before leaving office, Trump extended this restriction until March 31, 2021.

It is important to clarify that this visa program is available to highly qualified foreign workers in important fields such as technology, research, science and engineering. Adding to that, hundreds of American or US-based companies use this program to attract talent from abroad and expand their businesses or services.

Therefore, many critics stated that this measure seemed an effort by the Trump administration to reduce the flow of foreigners in the country, rather than a tool to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, mainly because the lack of foreign workforce would possibly affect the economy even more.

Biden let Trump’s restriction on employment visas expire

The Biden administration disagrees with the Trump administration’s stance when it comes to immigration and states that, in addition to boosting the economy in times of crisis, foreigners also contribute culturally and socially through entrepreneurship projects, innovation and research.

Thus, in March 2021, Biden let Trump’s restriction on employment visas expire and the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), the entity in charge of processing immigration applications, is currently expediting pending cases to reduce the backlog of applications caused by the health crisis and the Trump administration’s rules.

Do you need help with a Business Immigration Case? Our team can help you. It is important for you to follow the advice of experts regardless of whether you are a local employer or a foreign worker.

University praises Biden’s decision on employment visas

Wharton University, Pennsylvania, recently commented on Biden’s decision to allow the issuance of employment visas again after Trump’s restrictions, not only the H-1B visa, but also the H-2B visa for seasonal workers.

According to the opinion of one of the members of the University, Biden’s decision is a “broadly positive move for the U.S. economy, and I think it will help our recovery process (…) A lot of firms really rely on these immigrants and have struggled to find the workforce that they need while this ban was in place”.

Adding to that, the University explains that only an administration that does not support immigration would implement such a restriction because most companies use work visas to hire foreign workers only when there are not enough American workers available or trained. Therefore, this policy simply delayed the growth of local businesses in times of crisis.

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