U.S. hits at NAFTA skilled-job visas

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is working to slash the number of visas granted to Canadian and Mexican professionals as part of ongoing NAFTA negotiations among the three countries.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is leading the push as part of President Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative promised during the 2016 campaign.

The administration wants to limit the number of eligible professions and decrease the number of renewals of Treaty NAFTA, or TN, visas as the countries renegotiate the 1994 trade deal. Trump, who has forced the renegotiation, has threatened to scrap it unless it addresses the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico.

“At the negotiating table, the U.S. statements have been basically, ‘Look, we want to scale this back, we don’t want to agree to expand it [visas],’” said Eric Miller, a trade consultant who has worked for the Canadian government and continues to advise it on the negotiations.

The discussions over the visas are continuing even though Congress passed a bill in 2016 barring any administration from trying to change the number of visas granted to a country as part of trade negotiations, after past presidents did just that.

Some people on Capitol Hill who have studied the 2016 law’s language say the administration can work around it by modifying the existing trade agreement instead of writing a new one.

Lawmakers will have final approval anyway because Congress must ratify any new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico missed an informal deadline earlier this month set by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to complete talks to allow lawmakers to vote on a new treaty this year. Talks continue, but it’s highly unlikely now that Congress will consider the treaty this year, given its schedule and the upcoming midterm elections.

Fewer than 25,000 TN visas were issued for Mexicans in 2016, including about 10,000 for family members of the TN visa recipients, according to the State Department. No statistics are kept for Canadians, who have a lower bar to meet and can seek the visas when they arrive at the border. But some Canadian reports have put the number in the tens of thousands.

Those who favor restricting immigration argue that the program could trigger a flood of immigrants in the United States because there are no limits to the number of visas or renewals.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, urged Lighthizer to reduce the number of TN visas, estimating the number could approach 100,000.

“Although I recognize there are risks to reopening negotiations regarding any treaty provision, I believe that it would be a mistake to essentially renew the TN temporary worker visa category, without considering the broader implications for the current U.S. economy,” he wrote in a letter in October.

The number of TN visa workers in the U.S. has grown in recent years as the program has become more attractive. In 2008, the length of stay was increased from one year to three, making it an appealing alternative to other high-skilled visas. Approved occupations for the TN visa include accountants, hotel managers, land surveyors, nutritionists, engineers and computer systems analysts.

“It’s one of these secrets in immigration law that people only recently discovered,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute.

Congress is already debating whether the U.S. economy needs more foreign highskilled workers.

“It is in our national interest to bring the best and brightest minds from around the world to work in America, create companies in America, and create jobs for American workers,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who represents Silicon Valley, said. “While some programs are in need of reform, simply reducing the number of visas available does little to benefit our nation.”

Groups that want to restrict immigration, including NumbersUSA and Federation for American Immigration Reform, are lobbying the Trump administration to cut the number of visas.

Chris Chmielenski, director of NumbersUSA content and activism, said the group launched a social media campaign last month because even though the TN visa is limited to three years, the renewals are uncapped.

FAIR wrote to Lighthizer in March urging him to come to an agreement that is in line with Trump’s views on immigration.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from NAFTA unless Mexico helps halt the flow of undocumented immigrants who cross the border into the United States.

The 2016 law passed after it became common for administration officials to include provisions to increase the number of foreign professional guest workers in trade agreements. In 2003, President George W. Bush’s administration included temporary visas from Chile and Singapore in its trade pacts despite congressional opposition. But Congress had to ratify the treaty as a whole without being able to change pieces of it.

Still, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who introduced the 2016 bill and wants to reduce the number of immigrants in the U.S., warned the Trump administration not to meddle in immigration issues as part of NAFTA.

“It is important to ensure that the Article I Constitutional authority given to the United States Congress alone to establish immigration law is respected through the renegotiation,” King wrote to Lighthizer in a letter in October.