Trump targets foreign employees with new visa freeze
US President Donald Trump has extended a pause on some green cards and suspended visas for different foreign workers before end of 2020.
High-skilled tech personnel, non-agricultural seasonal helpers, au pairs and leading executives will be infected.
The White House said the move will generate jobs for Us citizens hurting economically due to the pandemic.
But critics say the White House is exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to shrink immigration laws.
Who's affected?
In a briefing for reporters, the administration said the freeze, in place through the finish of the entire year, would impact about 525,000 people.
That includes an estimated 170,000 persons blocked by your choice to increase a ban on most new green cards - which grants permanent residence to foreigners. The White colored House first announced it was halting those visas in April, an buy that had been arranged to expire on Monday.
Existing visa holders are not expected to be damaged under the new restrictions declared on Monday.
The order also applies to H-1B visas, many of which are granted to Indian tech workers. Critics say these visas have allowed Silicon Valley companies to outsource American careers to lower-paid foreign staff members. Last year, there have been about 225,000 applications competing for 85,000 spots available through the H1-B visa programme.
The order will suspend most H-2B visas for seasonal workers, including those in the hospitality industry, except those in agriculture, the food processing industry and healthcare professionals.
The order will restrict J-1 short-term exchange visas, a category that includes university students and foreign au pairs who provide childcare. Professors and scholars are not contained in the order. You will have a provision to demand exemptions.
L visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations will also be suspended.
What's the reaction?
The goal is to get "the very best and the brightest" and "the most value for our economy", a senior official said on the background call.
Tag Krikorian, executive director of the guts for Immigration Analyses, which favours constraints, told AP news firm: "This is a bold approach by the Trump administration to safeguard American jobs."
However the American Civil Liberties Union said: "It's the exploitation of a pandemic to reshape immigration legislation, while superseding Congress."
The new policy can be opposed by various businesses, which count on foreign workers.
"As the market rebounds, American businesses will require assurances they can meet almost all their workforce wants," the Chamber of Commerce wrote found in a letter this month caution against new restrictions.
"To that end, it is crucial that they have access to skill both domestically and from all over the world."
