Trump's H-1B Visa Changes: Experts Warn of Loopholes and Abuse

As the White House finally unveiled its long-awaited changes to the nation's high-skilled visa program, employers shifted from shock to acceptance. However, experts warn that the new rules are unlikely to accomplish the administration's goal of reserving the coveted visas for the most valuable workers, and instead, may allow outsourcing companies to adapt while start-ups, universities, and research organizations lose out. The Trump administration's proposed changes, including a $100,000 fee for new visas and a complex weighting system to favor higher-paid jobs, have raised concerns that loopholes will emerge, allowing companies to continue their practice of flooding the system with applications for relatively low-paid positions.

Key Takeaways:

• The H-1B visa program, America's largest visa category for workers with specialized skills, has been plagued by instances of employers substituting foreign visa holders for American workers and paying them less since its inception.
• The program's annual limit of 85,000 visas can be expanded by at least 50% by non-profit universities and hospitals, and in 2019, there were approximately 583,420 H-1B visa holders in the United States.
• Economists have generally found that H-1B visa holders boost American productivity and raise wages even for American workers, but the program's shortcomings have led politicians and policy experts on both sides of the aisle to call for changes to maximize its value.
• Experts from across the political spectrum, including John Lettieri, president of the Economic Innovation Group, and Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, have proposed fixes to the program, such as ranking applications by compensation or devising a points system to capture desirable characteristics.
• The $100,000 fee for new visas, introduced by the Trump administration, is unlikely to prevent outsourcing companies from continuing to submit petitions for low-paid workers who can be retained for six years or more.
• The largest tech companies, including those with multinational corporations, may still be able to afford the fees and improve their chances in the lottery, while small businesses and non-profit organizations may be locked out of the program.
• A proposed rule that would tie the lottery to four wage thresholds based on occupation and region may not effectively give higher-paid positions an edge in the lottery, as employers can still bring in workers at the lowest wage levels.

Statistics:

• The median annual compensation of H-1B holders is $120,000.
• Approximately 583,420 H-1B visa holders were in the United States in 2019.
• The annual limit of 85,000 H-1B visas can be expanded by at least 50% by non-profit universities and hospitals.
• The H-1B visa can be extended for up to six years, or longer if the worker has a pending green card application.

Sources:

• Lydia DePillis, "After the White House's startling changes to the nation's high-skilled visa program, employers have moved from shock to acceptance."
• John Lettieri, president of the Economic Innovation Group
• Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum
• Jeremy Neufeld, director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress
• Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute
• Cecilia Esterline, a senior immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center
• George Fishman, senior legal fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies
• Todd Schulte, president of the pro-immigration group FWD.us