U.S. President Donald Trump is now expanding the ban on foreign workers after he shuttered the immigration door on Mexicans and pushed for a 30-foot wall on the borders to prevent Mexico’s illegal immigrants from entering the United States. His target this time are Computer Programmers working in Silicon Valley who would be hit by a new change in H-1B visa issuance.
Complex and specialized jobs
Mashable reported that a new law was passed quietly over the weekend that says under the new H-1B visa guidelines, computer programmers would no longer be eligible to apply for the visa.
Those who would apply for visas must produce additional evidence of proof that the programming jobs they are applying are complex and specialized that requires the company to look for applicants overseas.
Besides stricter rules on hiring, the new law would have immigration enforcers going on-site visits to companies that hire foreign workers if the firms follow or evade their “obligation to make good faith efforts to recruit U.S. workers.” Companies could still apply for H-1B visas through a yearly lottery process as part of the Trump administration efforts to limit the ability of American tech firms from hiring lower-paid and lower-level computer workers such as programmers.
According to data from the Department of Labor, 12 percent of all H-1B applicants it approved were computer programmers.
Mashable noted that because Silicon Valley companies such as Google, Facebook, or Apple serve an international audience, it is critical for these firms to hire foreign workers to provide services in all aspects of the business.
Indians most affected
Among the nationalities expected to be affected by this new immigration wall set up by Trump, it would be Indian tech workers who rely on H-1B visas heavily.
In February, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the U.S. for a more balanced perspective when it comes to skilled Indian workers over the possibility that India would lose a big chunk of the lucrative IT services the Asian country provides the U.S. worth $150 billion.
However, while tightening the noose on foreign workers, companies operated by the Trumps are the first violators of the American first policy of the president.
His companies use not only the H-1B visa program but also the H-2B visa for lesser-skilled workers employed at the Mar-A-Lago Club and Florida golf course owned by Trump.
These are jobs such as waiters, cooks, and housekeepers. Trump insisted it was hard to find workers I those jobs where these businesses are located, but Florida employment centers say otherwise. Immigration records also showed that between 2008 and 2013, the Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry applied for five H-1B visas for workers assigned to the company’s public relations and marketing departments.
