If you are having trouble keeping up with the immigration policy changes occurring in the US this year, you are not alone. The latest measures announced on December 14, 2017 include changes to the H1-B employment visa and stricter measures for travelers from 38 countries whose citizens are allowed visa-free travel to the US.
These announcements follow a dizzying stream of immigration announcements made in September and October including new versions of the travel ban, reduced admissions of and enhanced vetting for refugees, cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and ordering deportation of some Haitians, Salvadorans and Hondurans with previously protected status. While challenges to many of these orders are ongoing in the courts, the Trump administration continues its protectionist quest to tighten or block all pathways to legally move and travel to the US.
The new travel rules affect mainly the European countries participating in the US Visa Waiver Program, and will implement stricter punishments for visitors who overstay the 90 days allowed. Public education programs will be mandated in those countries found with over 2% of citizens overstaying their allowance, geared towards informing the public about consequences of overstay. The new travel rules will additionally require countries to use US counterterrorism data to screen travelers and mandate increased vetting for aviation workers in airports with direct flights to the US.
Proposed changes to the H1-B work visa comes as applications for the visa lottery capped for the first half of 2018 and includes revoking employment authorization of spouses of H1-B holders. This change is part of a broader immigration strategy introduced in April 2017 known as the “Buy American, Hire American” executive order aiming to “protect American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs.” This was a Trump campaign promise that has proven easier to implement than other immigration and race-baiting promises including building the wall, and many are wondering whether relations between the US and India will falter as result.
India has historically been and continues to be the biggest user of the H1-B program, with an average of 70% of all H1-B visas going to Indian applicants. The H1 program has been in existence since 1952, the H1-B visa was introduced following the passage of the US Immigration Act of 1990 with the intent of allowing for exceptional talent to enter the country. Loopholes in the policy has allowed for companies to informally ignore job protection requirements as long as foreign workers were paid a minimum annual salary of $60,000 and the abuse has in fact gradually worsened over the last 19 years to where the Trump administration used it as proof of the potential to take over American jobs and breach national security. “The Justice Department will not tolerate employers misusing the H-1B visa process to discriminate against US workers,” said Tom Wheeler, the acting assistant attorney general at the DOJ’s civil rights division.
India’s outsourcing industry is now worth $150 billion, and the industry, long seen as an engine of wealth and job creation, is going to feel short-term pain. Trump’s protectionist policies and geopolitical developments like Brexit remain beyond India’s control. But companies will adapt and evolve with the changes. American Systems Integrators (SIs) like Deloitte and Accenture are changing their policies by blending rates for ‘domestic resources’ (aka American workers) and ‘landed resources’ (work visa holders) into single rate cards, which translates into equal or near-equal pay for similar job descriptions.
Infosys recently lost 3,000 jobs in Bengaluru when The Royal Bank of Scotland canceled a contract following the referendum. But given its high quality skills and its head-start in BPO, Indian service providers are finding creative ways to adapt to the changing environment and ensure steady double-digit growth over the next decade. With a mix of US hiring, strategic acquisitions and buyouts internally and globally, and a shift in business models toward software platforms, new directions made by companies will eventually pay off.
The big picture is Indian companies will continue to grab the lion’s share of the 85,000 H1-B visas available annually which represents actually only less than 0.01% of the US working population. My Indian husband switched from a F1 student visa to the H1-B in 1997, and it changed his life without affecting American job seekers. What is affected is the potential rise in populist perspectives among the general US base and how immigration rhetoric-turned-policies are changing the cultural landscape. Some companies are opting to relocate or set up shop in Canada instead. “It’s becoming less and less sexy to be going to the United States,” said Tim Delisle, a founder of the start-up Datalogue.
Between the US fear tactics and Indian pressure to overturn the proposed changes, we haven’t seen the last of the worker visa issue and we can expect more immigration changes in the coming months. Until the changes play themselves out and the political climate eases, rest assured that the political posturing won’t slow the global economic engine down. One way or another, we will all find a way to survive and prosper.
Kelsey LeBrun Keswani is the co-founder and executive director of Refugee Assistance and Information Network International, and provides consultation on humanitarian issues globally .
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the publication
