New York (CWBN)_ President Donald Trump signed an executive order which restricts the entry of skilled foreign workers into the US and also temporarily banned issuing of fresh H-1B and L1 visas till the end of this year. This caused a negative impact on firms in US and also resulted in an estimated loss of USD 100 billion to US companies.
The H-1B and L1 visas are mainly issued for the working professionals. This is mainly used by the US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that prefer theoretical or technical expertise. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa which is popular among Indian IT professionals and L-1 visa is mainly used for internal company transfers.
According to the report released by Brookings Institute, this executive order signed by the President Trump on June 22 had caused negative impacts among the foreign workers in US. This along with corona virus pandemic and lockdowns had impacts on their job security as well. The companies in US also face huge loss due to this order.
According to the reports from Prithwiraj Choudhury, Indian-American Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, Dany Bahasr from Brookings and Britta Glennon from the University of Pennsylvania, this new order has blocked nearly 200,000 foreign workers and their dependents from entering US.
The report said that the H-1B and L-1 visas were used by the US companies to hire or transfer high-skilled foreign employees and that there is impressive evidence to prove that the skilled immigration boost the firm outcomes such as improvement in profits, productivity, production expansion, innovation and investment.
The report further argued saying “Thus, it is plausible that the Trump administration’s measures significantly restraining immigration will have lasting negative impacts on American firms, and with it, slow down the post-COVID-19 economic recovery”.
Further, the American Immigration Council said on Thursday that another proposed rule from the Department of Homeland Security wound affect the duration of stay of foreign students and exchange visitors and journalists. The report added that this could have devastating impacts on US leadership in scientific research and technological innovation.
The report added that this rule will have negative impacts on American colleges and universities and will also affect the overseas students who are seeking higher education in US. Also, this will have long-lasting impacts on the legal immigration system as well.
Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council said “This rule threatens to undermine the US’ role as a world leader in education and stigmatises tens of thousands of students based on their country of birth. New costs and bureaucratic barriers will make it more difficult for students and exchange visitors to complete their courses of study in the United States uncertainty that will inevitably drive talented students from around the world to pursue their studies in other countries”.
Werlin added “We already have an appropriate system in place to ensure that international students and exchange visitors comply with the terms of their visas. This proposed rule is unnecessary and would significantly reduce our ability to serve as a destination for the most talented students and exchange visitors from around the world”.
Numerous debates and discussions are going around on the new rule. The important data about the immigrants playing significant roles in different departments in US have brought to the notice of the government. There are more than 12,000 foreign doctors in American hospitals who are providing services in the time of pandemic. There are thousands of foreign students who are studying and researching in American universities. There are numerous foreign workers who are contributing to many American companies. There are numerous overseas journalists staying in US and are spreading American stories to the world.
The most affected by this rule will be the students and exchange visitors. They occupy more than 2 million visas. Most of the immigrants are from Asia. China stands leading with 370,000 students, India with 202,000 students and South Korea with 52,000 students. Based on the new rule, the students will be limited to two or four years, depending on their plan of study, instead of allowing them to remain in the United States so long as they are studying. Apart from this, the foreign employees will also be affected to a greater extent.
Based on the research and data collected on the number of foreign students and workers in US and considering their support and contribution to the country as well as the economy and the support from them during the pandemic time and finally the contribution and significant role played by them in the country’s science and technology and research, the government should come up with the right decision in their immigration policy. The government should take into consideration the facts that covid 19 is a temporary situation and that the contribution from the immigrants in the past and present is appreciable and is needed in the future years as well for the benefit of the country.
