President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Friday that he demanded from companies to pay a $ 100,000 rate to obtain visas from H-1B workers.
Proclamation occurs when the Trump administration intensifies its repression against immigration, through massive deportation raids and efforts in cities throughout the country.
The proclamation firm is a victory for immigration uncomproments in Capitol Hill, but it is likely to classify technological executives looking for qualified workers from abroad.
The V-1B Visa program, which was signed by then President George Hw Bush in 1990, allows workers to work temporarily in the United States. The main technological companies have trusted the approvals of the program to hire abroad employees. Amazon was one of the main beneficiaries of the program, according to data from the American citizenship and immigration services, with more than 10,000 approvals, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, with 5,500 and Microsoft and Meta, with more than 5,000 approvals each.
Trump said Friday that technological companies would be satisfied with changes.
“I think they will be very happy. Everyone will be happy,” Trump said.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, main member of the American Immigration Council, described the measure “almost surely illegal and is likely to be shot down in court”, in a publication on social networks.
“Congress has only authorized the Government to establish rates to recover the cost of awarding the application. There is no legal authority to impose rates designed to limit the use of a visa,” said Reichlin-Melnick.
Bloomberg Law first reported on Trump’s plans to sign the proclamation on Friday.
The Congress establishes an annual limit of 65,000 new visas every fiscal year and another 20,000 for those who have obtained a mastery or more, with additional exemptions for universities and research organizations.
During his first term, Trump sought to promulgate rules that would have drastically limited the issuance of new visas of qualified workers, citing the economic recession precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic and an effort to preserve jobs. The rules were finally attacked by a federal court.
More recently, Trump defended the Visa H-1B program before assuming position of the New York Post comments in December, saying at the exit: “I have many H-1b visas on my properties. I have believed in H-1B. I have used it many times. It is a great program.”
