Trump may sign executive order re-vamping USA’s foreign worker visas

Changes to the visa program in question, known as H-1B, probably won’t inspire the waves of protest that greeted Trump’s ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. There were more than 172,000 visas issued in the H1-B category alone in 2015, according to data from the U.S. State Department.

Reuters reports tech companies such as Expedia have joined the fray in countering an immigration ban some contend greatly hinders respective business.

The source was referring to the coalition which fought a United States government order which would have forced Apple to weaken iPhone security to inspect a handset used by one of the shooters in a deadly attack in Southern California in December 2015. Still the news of such reforms has taken the internet by storm.

In electrical engineering, the H-1B program has a spotted history.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the possible executive order on work visas “is part of a larger immigration effort” and comes from “an overall need to look at all of these measures”.

Local tech leaders are concerned that a more restrictive H-1B program, if enacted, could impede recruitment for tech talent, including in Central Pennsylvania.

In addition, the H-1B program does not address the true needs of the tech community, much less the wider business community in all sectors, which increasingly rely on knowledge workers.

In 2013, according to one analysis, the top nine firms using H-1B visas were all outsourcing firms. Essentially, this move will dent the tech companies greatly.

The new administration’s proposed order would also create more transparency around visa programs by publishing statistics on who uses the programs within a month of the federal government’s fiscal year. CEO Travis Kalanick also said that the company will provide round-the-clock legal support for drivers who are having trouble returning to the United States and compensate them for their lost earnings. Facebook, which only sponsored 112 workers in Washington past year, had the highest average salary of $150,723. These are the most common visas used by Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech companies to bring skilled workers (for example, engineers) into the U.S. Hira also favors random audits of employers to ensure that they’re not abusing the visa system.

Many have complained, however, that the visas are used to depress wages by bringing in cheaper foreign workers.

Changes to the H-1B program could be a rare chance for bipartisan agreement on immigration.

Bloomberg noted the average salary paid to guest workers at those companies is US$70,000. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California, last week introduced a bill that in broad outline doesn’t sound radically different from Trump’s.

H-1B visas allow companies to recruit internationally for employees with specialty skills when they can not find people with those skills locally. That included a former interpreter for the U.S. Army, two doctors from the Cleveland Clinic, a Stanford PhD student, and others. They’re backing a bill that would prefer certain applicants over others.

However, in recent years critics have argued the visa has started to be used in instances where it shouldn’t be used, that is, when USA residents are available to do the work. With restrictions on the visa, it will become tough for these firms to hire appropriate talent for the specific jobs.