Suspension of skilled-worker visa program sparks outcry

President Trump’s 22 June proclamation that suspends the issuance of new green cards and various nonimmigrant visas through the end of this year has drawn condemnation from universities and businesses. The outcry is due in part to the halting of the H-1B program, which provides temporary work visas to highly skilled immigrants. In response, the American Physical Society (APS) announced on 26 June that it is collaborating with partners in the tech community to pursue a legal challenge to the proclamation, with the goal of at least delaying its implementation.

The order asserts that the pause is needed to provide more job opportunities to Americans in view of the current state of widespread unemployment. But proponents of the H-1B program say it is a key tool for filling jobs, particularly in STEM fields, for which there are no adequate domestic candidates.

“This order is an unmitigated disaster for US academia and for the country,” Denis Wirtz, vice provost for research at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on Twitter . “It will have a chilling effect on the ability of the US to attract the world’s best scientists and engineers even if lifted by a new administration because of the uncertainty it creates.”

The proclamation also suspends other categories of nonimmigrant visas, though it is not as sweeping as some had feared. Although the order affects various categories of J visas, it exempts those used by professors, scholars, and students. It also does not affect the Optional Practical Training program, which allows foreign students to work in the US for up to three years after they finish their degree programs. The administration has reportedly considered curtailing it.

Proclamation builds on past administration orders

The restrictions expand on an initial proclamation that Trump issued in April halting the issuance of new green cards for 60 days and ordering a review of nonimmigrant visa programs. Green cards confer lawful permanent resident status, whereas nonimmigrant visas typically allow stays in the US lasting up to a few years.

Justifying the expansion to nonimmigrant programs, the new proclamation states, “Under ordinary circumstances, properly administered temporary worker programs can provide benefits to the economy. But under the extraordinary circumstances of the economic contraction resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, certain nonimmigrant visa programs authorizing such employment pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers.”

The proclamation includes a “national interest” waiver for medical workers who are involved in research on COVID-19 or care for patients with the disease. The exemption also applies to individuals who are deemed “critical to the defense, law enforcement, diplomacy, or national security of the United States . . . or are necessary to facilitate the immediate and continued economic recovery of the United States.” Implementation of this provision is delegated to the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security.

Absent widespread exemptions, the proclamation could affect hundreds of thousands of potential visa seekers. In a press briefing, an unnamed administration official asserted the new restrictions could “open up” about 525 000 jobs for Americans.

A large fraction of the prospective applicants affected by the order are workers eligible for H-1B visas. In fiscal year 2019, the State Department issued 188 123 H-1B visas, which are valid for an initial period of three years and can be extended. Although the order’s immediate impact will be somewhat blunted given that visa processing has already slowed dramatically amid the pandemic, stakeholders fear the restrictions could be extended and that, in any case, they send a message that the US is unwelcoming to foreign workers.

The proclamation notably affects both the “capped” portion of the H-1B program, which allocates up to 85 000 visas to companies each year via a lottery system, and the uncapped portion that is used by universities and other nonprofit organizations. It also applies to H-4 visas, which are used by spouses of H-1B holders.

The capped portion of the program has been a long-standing subject of debate, with some arguing that it is abused by certain information technology companies to displace Americans by bringing in skilled workers who are willing to work for lower pay. The uncapped portion of the program used by universities has not been subject to such controversy.

The order also sets in motion a prospective overhaul of the capped visas, instructing the Department of Homeland Security to “consider promulgating regulations or take other appropriate action regarding the efficient allocation of [H-1B] visas.”

At the press briefing, the administration official stated the president has “instructed us to get rid of the lottery and replace it with ranking the salaries,” meaning that the top 85 000 salary offers across all applicants would receive the visas. “This will drive both the wage level and the skill level of the H-1B applicants up. It will eliminate competition with Americans, it will reduce American competition in these industries at the entry level, and will do more to get the best and the brightest,” the official said.

The administration has long sought to modify the H-1B visa program, its efforts dating back to a 2017 executive order . Critics charge the White House is using the pandemic as a pretext to push through various aspects of its broader visa and immigration agenda.

Research groups say order undermines US competitiveness

In the weeks leading up to Trump’s new proclamation, companies and research groups engaged in an intense lobbying effort to convince the administration of the benefits of nonimmigrant visa programs, emphasizing their importance for the STEM workforce.

In a May letter to the White House, 324 employers, trade groups, and university associations argued that “temporarily or indefinitely eliminating or reducing the H-1B program or discouraging its use would not create or leave more jobs for U.S. natives and would risk reducing growth and productivity.”

A group of 36 scientific societies, including the American Institute of Physics (which publishes Physics Today), also wrote to the White House urging the administration to “prioritize the immigration of science and technology talent that will spur the scientific breakthroughs and economic growth of the United States that is needed for rapid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Business, university, and scientific associations are now blasting the proclamation as a blow to the US economy.

Association of American Universities president Mary Sue Coleman asserted in a statement that the move “will harm our nation’s economic and scientific competitiveness while failing to achieve any of the president’s stated goals in issuing it.” US Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue wrote that the proclamation represents “a severe and sweeping attempt to restrict legal immigration.”

Along with announcing its pursuit of legal action, APS said that it “rejects the impression created by recent government actions that Americans do not welcome international scientists. We know that the presence of international scientists working and studying in the US enriches us all.”

Many university scientists and administrators have also taken to Twitter to call attention to the effects of the H-1B program suspension.

“The suspension of the H1B visa program is bad for the US, bad for innovation, and will shatter dreams and disrupt lives,” Andrew Ng, a prominent artificial intelligence researcher, tweeted . “As a former H1B visa holder, my heart goes out to all the families affected.”

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a 23 June post on FYI, which reports on federal science policy. Both FYI and Physics Today are published by the American Institute of Physics.