New H-1B Overhaul: Trump Targets Tech Visas

The H1B visa program is a non-immigrant visa program that allows American companies to hire foreign workers in technical fields temporarily, positions that require at least a bachelor's degree. They can apply for permanent residency while working in the United States, but otherwise, the duration of the visa is normally three years. A foreign worker can't apply for one of these visas; an employer has to sponsor them.

One would think this would only be used for bringing in workers with skills in a field that just aren't present in the American workforce, but that's not how it has been used. While working as a corporate consultant on various projects, I regularly worked with H1B visa holders, mostly from India, mostly engineers. While some of them were quite good, it was an open secret that they were there because they would work cheaper than Americans.

Now the Trump administration is cracking down on the H1B program, starting with increased scrutiny on visa applicants.

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced increased vetting of applicants for H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, with an internal State Department memo saying that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech be considered for rejection.
H-1B visas, which allow U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty fields, are crucial for U.S. tech companies which recruit heavily from countries including India and China. Many of those companies' leaders threw their support behind Trump in the last presidential election.

Note that this report comes from Reuters, an outlet that is not exactly friendly to the Trump administration.

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Here's how that increased vetting will work:

The cable, sent to all U.S. missions on December 2, orders U.S. consular officers to review resumes or LinkedIn profiles of H-1B applicants - and family members who would be traveling with them - to see if they have worked in areas that include activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others.
"If you uncover evidence an applicant was responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States, you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible," under a specific article of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the cable said.

That seems oddly specific, but it's true; we don't want people entering the country for any reason who have engaged in any of the proscribed activities. At least some of these imported workers will be entering the tech sector, where they could be working with, say, social media platforms, and there would be the possibility of influencing the online speech of Americans. The report continues:

The cable said all visa applicants were subject to this policy, but sought a heightened review for the H-1B applicants given they frequently worked in the technology sector "including in social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression."
"You must thoroughly explore their employment histories to ensure no participation in such activities," the cable said.

There remains the question: should we be importing people to fill jobs that an American could do?

It seems obvious that a program like this should only be used to import workers who have experience or skills that just aren't available in the United States. Back in the day, when I entered Canada for a consulting job, I had to explain to Canadian customs why I was there and why a Canadian citizen couldn't do what I was being brought in to do.

We should be applying that same restriction here. The H1B program can be useful, but it should be limited; just bringing in foreign workers because it's cheaper than hiring Americans doesn't seem like a good justification.

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