Efforts to Undermine H-1B Visa Program Will Harm U.S. Tech Sector
Note: Like most Americans, we are still processing last week’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol. While there are many important conversations happening in the aftermath of the riot and as many anticipate further insurrection attempts, we are continuing to highlight relevant startup policy news and issues alongside important questions about the spread of misinformation, the role of Internet companies, and accountability for those who seek to undermine our democracy.
TLDR: Although the technology industry remains hopeful that the incoming Biden administration will overturn President Trump’s harmful immigration policies, startups and other businesses are concerned that a federal rule published in the last days of Trump’s term would further weaken and restrict access to the H-1B visa program. Tech companies rely upon the significant contributions of foreign-born workers to grow their businesses, but ongoing efforts to limit access to crucially-needed talent will only drive high-skilled workers to other nations.
What’s Happening This Week: The technology industry and startups are still processing the Department of Homeland Security’s recently published final rule that would effectively replace the H-1B visa lottery with a metric that prioritizes registrations and petitions with the highest salary levels. Under the final rule, the 85,000 H-1B visas available each year would no longer be selected in a random drawing and would instead be given out based upon a four-tiered system that would prioritize petitions with the highest wage levels.
DHS’s final rule is the latest effort by the Trump administration to undermine the H-1B visa program and limit access to high-skilled foreign talent. Trump previously issued a proclamation last June suspending the issuance of new non-immigrant visas—including through the H-1B program—allegedly to protect U.S. jobs amid the pandemic. DHS and the Department of Labor also released new rules last year that were designed to restrict the H-1B visa program further by limiting the definition of speciality occupation to narrow the eligibility requirements for high-skilled visas, and by altering prevailing wage levels. Engine joined an amicus brief with other organizations challenging the proposed rules, and a federal judge last month struck down both DHS’s specialty occupation requirements and DOL’s wage-based rules.
Why it Matters to Startups: The startup community and U.S. tech companies have long expressed concern that President Trump’s efforts to restrict the H-1B visa program will decrease U.S. innovation and global competitiveness by forcing high-skilled talent to look elsewhere for opportunities in the technology industry. As Engine highlighted in a November letter to congressional leaders, “the unfavorable immigration environment surrounding high-skilled immigration may lead multinational companies to transfer jobs out of the country or choose to entirely grow their endeavors elsewhere.”
Rather than protecting U.S. jobs, efforts to limit tech companies’ access to H-1B visa recipients will only compound the economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic and make it more difficult for startups and the tech industry to drive the nation’s long-term economic recovery once the outbreak is over. In general, foreign-born entrepreneurs who emigrate to the United States start new companies at rates significantly higher than those of native-born Americans. Studies have also found that the H-1B visa program creates U.S. jobs and, if expanded, could lead to 1.3 million new American jobs by 2045. Further restricting the H-1B visa program—or moving to further curtail immigration—could slow long-term job creation, startup activity, and even limit the number of new tech jobs available in major metropolitan regions.
DHS’s new rule would affect tech companies looking to hire high-skilled workers across multiple employment levels and could have a significant impact on entry-level positions and international students. Rather than supporting U.S. workers, this rule would undermine the H-1B visa program at the expense of emerging startups and future talent. As we highlighted in comments to DHS last month, restricting the H-1B visa program further “would not have the intended effects of boosting American jobs and workers” and instead “risks preventing a number of highly-skilled professionals” from bringing their talents to U.S. companies.
In order to ensure that startups can thrive on a global scale, the White House and Congress need to pursue policies that recognize the importance of high-skilled talent to the entrepreneurial community. As Engine and a coalition of 118 startups said in a July letter to the Trump administration following the president’s decision to suspend the issuance of new non-immigrant visas, “[o]nly with access to a global pool of talent can companies and entrepreneurs advance new technologies and keep America at the forefront of global innovation.”
While we are hopeful that President-elect Joe Biden will roll back many of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies and work with Congress to increase the number of visas for high-skilled workers, Engine remains concerned that efforts to limit the H-1B visa lottery program —such as DHS’s final rule—will have harmful implications on the entrepreneurs community beyond Inauguration Day. It is critical that Congress, federal officials, and other policymakers pursue an immigration agenda that supports the U.S. tech sector—such as by creating a startup visa program—in order to ensure that the United States remains a destination for high-skilled workers from across the world.
On the Horizon.
The Washington Post is holding a virtual event at 2 p.m. tomorrow to discuss the ways in which artificial intelligence is transforming the healthcare industry.
Join Engine and the Charles Koch Institute this Thursday at 1 p.m. for the third and final event in our Nuts and Bolts of Content Moderation series to discuss the role, the realities, and the risks of automating content moderation. You can RSVP here.
The Hill is holding a discussion this Thursday at 1 p.m. on the future of U.S. innovation.
The Federal Communications Commission is holding a virtual summit this Friday at 3 p.m. to provide information and resources for obtaining employment in the tech sector.
