Tech blasts Trump order suspending work visas

Industry group predicts ‘dangerous impact on the economic recovery’

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that shuts out many new foreign workers until the end of the year, suspending the technology industry’s favorite visa, the H-1B.

“The overall unemployment rate in the United States nearly quadrupled between February and May of 2020 — producing some of the most extreme unemployment ever recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” Trump wrote in the order. “Without intervention, the United States faces a potentially protracted economic recovery with persistently high unemployment if labor supply outpaces labor demand. American workers compete against foreign nationals for jobs in every sector of our economy.”

The order does not apply to foreign citizens already working in the United States or to those holding visas valid before Wednesday, when the new rules take effect. Monday’s order exempts foreign nationals wishing to enter the U.S. to provide “services essential to the United States food supply chain” and directs U.S. officials to define categories of foreign work

ers to be exempt from the order because their entry would be in the national interest. Such workers would include those involved with providing medical care to hospitalized coronavirus patients or with research at U.S. facilities into combating the virus, according to the order.

The move drew quick criticism from tech industry groups, with some saying it would have a negative effect on the nation’s economic recovery.

The Information Technology Industry Council, a high-profile lobby group for large companies including Silicon Valley giants Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Oracle and Salesforce, said in a prepared statement, “Today’s executive action stands to upend the ability of U.S. employers — in the tech sector and beyond — to hire the men and women they need to strengthen their workforce, re-power the economy, and drive innovation. At a critical time for the U.S. economy, it will have a dangerous impact on the economic recovery and growth for years to come. As U.S. companies get their employees back to work, immigrants working in the technology industry are vital to sustaining promising recovery trends, as well as supporting the United States’ ongoing response to COVID-19.”

The council urged Trump to reconsider.

Linda Moore, CEO of TechNet, another industry group, said in a prepared statement that the order would “undermine the work the technology industry is doing to help our country recover from unprecedented events.” Moore said the industry during COVID-19 is “providing food delivery services, tele-health care, collaborative business solutions, and ways for families and friends to stay connected. Technology will continue to be crucial to the rebuilding of our economy.”

And San Francisco-based Twitter posted a tweet from its policy group, saying, “This proclamation undermines America’s greatest economic asset: its diversity. People from all over the world come here to join our labor force, pay taxes, and contribute to our global competitiveness on the world stage.”

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia applauded Trump’s order, saying in a statement that it would “help ensure that the millions of Americans who are unemployed due to the coronavirus are first in line to fill job openings.” Scalia also said that the Labor Department was boosting its cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to “identify businesses that misuse the H-1B program to the detriment of American workers.”

Silicon Valley’s technology companies for years have relied heavily on the H-1B, pushing to expand the annual cap of 85,000 new visas and arguing that they need more visas to secure the world’s top talent. But critics say the visa, intended for jobs requiring specialized skills, has been used by staffing and outsourcing companies, and major tech firms, to supplant U.S. workers, drive down wages and facilitate outsourcing of U.S. jobs.

The H-1B is also widely used by universities, including Stanford and UC Berkeley.

Trump has long promised to reform the H-1B program. His administration has dramatically increased visa denial rates for outsourcers and staffing firms that supply tech workers to other companies. But opponents of the visa have decried the administration’s failure to make other promised changes, including redefining which workers and jobs qualify for the visa, and stripping employment rights from spouses of H-1B workers. The coronavirus pandemic has led advocates for reduced immigration to renew their calls for the H-1B to be eliminated or put on hold while millions of Americans are out of work.

Also suspended till after Dec. 31 are the J visa for work or study visitor exchanges, the L visa for companies’ managerial transfers, and H-2B visas for temporary, non-agricultural visas. Trump’s order also extends till the end of the year his previous April 22 order banning issuance of green cards. That order had been scheduled to expire Monday.