Immigration Reform 2017: Trump to Target H-1B With 'Buy American, Hire American' EO
United States President Donald Trump has just signed an executive order that directs government agencies to review the current visa program for bringing in high-skilled foreign workers. The administration says it looks to advance new "Hire American" policies, as well as combat abuse in the controversial H-1B visa program.
The executive order makes no specific amendments to the policies of the H-1B and other visa programs, according to the New York Times. One thing that the new directive does is to order the U.S. Department of Labor, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and State Departments to begin a review of the existing visa program policies and procedures and to prescribe changes.
President Trump spoke at the signing of the executive order at Kenosha, Wisconsin. "Right now, H-1B visas are awarded in a totally random lottery, and that's wrong," Trump said. Another directive of the new Executive Order requires relevant agencies to make sure that the controversial H-1B temporary visa are given only to the most skilled and highly paid immigrant workers.
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The new order also calls for agencies to combat the abuse of the current H-1B visa program policies. Critics of the work visa program have raised complaints that its policies are "rife with abuse," allowing companies to get away with cutting costs by importing cheaper immigrant workers rather than hire domestic talent, according to The Verge.
Those in agreement with the current H-1B policies argue that the present system is very much needed to fill hiring gaps in industries vital to the U.S. economy, especially when it comes to tech and manufacturing jobs.
Changes in the policy of the temporary visa program could affect companies that heavily rely on outsourced workers. These companies, which get thousands of tech workers, engineers and information technology (IT) professionals abroad, include Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Cognizant Tech Solutions Corp and Infosys Ltd.
Any amendments to the current practices of the H-1B visa program will also likely affect Facebook, which has more than 15 percent of its U.S. employees hired using a temporary work visa, according to Reuters.
