The Center for Immigration Studies hosted a livestream panel discussing the proclamation suspending entry of immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak. The new proclamation is expected to extend the April proclamation until the end of the year and goes much further by suspending entry of those applying for non-immigrant status (i.e. temporary) under the H-1B, H4, L, and H2-B, J visas with limited exceptions.
"This is a bold move by the Trump administration to protect American jobs," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. "Not all the items on our checklist of needed actions are included in today's announcement, but the corporate lobbyists who were desperately fighting for exceptions to protect their clients' access to cheap foreign labor have largely been rebuffed. With tens of millions of Americans out of work, we look forward to continued progress toward the president's Hire American goals."
“I estimate that potentially as many as 3/4 of a million jobs will be opened up to U.S. workers by the suspension of temporary work visas and work permits and by the proposed regulatory changes. This is potentially very big,” said Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies. “Extending these reforms until the end of the year makes a huge difference, in part because employers can’t just hold their breath until it’s over.”
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