US President Joe Biden plans to allow a pandemic-related ban on visas for certain temporary workers, enacted by former President Donald Trump, to expire Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
The moratorium, which affected H-1B visas used by technology companies to hire foreign coders and engineers, was imposed last June. Biden is opting not to renew it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced. The White House declined to comment.
The H-1B visa is mostly for Indian IT professionals. The United States issues 85,000 H-1B visas every year and thousands of employees from countries such as India and China are hired by technical companies.
Biden’s Decision Will Please Business Groups
Since the new president took office, business organisations have pressured the administration to lift the ban. Executives also expressed their displeasure that the order was not immediately repealed, alleging that it affected American businesses.
The Biden administration had been looking into Trump’s limitations on guest-worker visas, which included non-agricultural seasonal workers, au pairs, and others.
Last month, Biden withdrew a related Trump executive order, citing the pandemic, that halted the issuance of new green cards, a move that drastically reduced legal immigration to the United States. The policies, Trump claimed, were necessary to preserve the American economy as it recovered from the pandemic-induced recession.
“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Biden said in a presidential proclamation at the time. “It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.”
The Opponents Description On The ban!
The ban on guest-worker visas was not revoked at the same time. Temporary work visas are unpopular with labor unions and other worker groups who argue that they put American workers at a disadvantage to their foreign counterparts.
Despite the Trump administration’s extension of the visa ban at the end of 2020, opponents of the restrictions had already found some success in court.
A federal judge in California granted a preliminary injunction on Oct. 1 in a lawsuit brought by several large business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The groups argued Trump exceeded his authority by imposing immigration restrictions in his June 22 proclamation.
The Trump Justice Department appealed that ruling to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In February, the appellate court requested a status report from the parties by April 7.
Suspension Of H1B, H4 Visa’s back In 2020
President Donald Trump signed an order that temporarily banned employment-based visas. H-1B, H-2B, and L visa holders and their dependents were not allowed to enter the United States until December 31, 2020, according to the Trump administration.
Back in 2020 trump had said “Under ordinary circumstances, properly administered temporary worker programmes can provide benefits to the economy. But under the extraordinary circumstances of the economic contraction resulting from the Covid-19 outbreak, certain nonimmigrant visa programmes authorising such employment pose an unusual threat to the employment of American workers,”
“The entry of additional workers through the H-1B, H-2B, J, and L nonimmigrant visa programmes, therefore, presents a significant threat to employment opportunities for Americans affected by the extraordinary economic disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak,” Donald Trump said.
Meanwhile, the US Chamber of Commerce has opposed Trump’s move, calling it a “sweeping attempt”, adding, “restrictive changes to our nation’s immigration system will push investment and economic activity abroad, slow growth, and reduce job creation”.
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