Major American tech companies including Amazon, Google parent firm Alphabet, and Twitter have decried US President Donald Trump’s ban on employment permits including H-1B visas work visa till year end.
President Trump issued a proclamation on Monday suspending the issuance of a variety of visas that allow foreigners to work in the US for a limited amount of time.
The administration said the suspension, which affects H-1B, H-2B, H-4, J-1, and L-1 visas, was necessary to protect American workers at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has pushed unemployment to its highest level in decades.
The banned H-1B visas is usually used by major companies to bring over highly-skilled engineers from abroad.
Around 18,000 H1-B visas were given to two giant tech companies – Google and Apple – last year.
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The executive order, signed Monday afternoon, will extend and widen the 60-day freeze Trump placed on new work permits for non-US citizens two months ago.
The administration official said the new order would extend to the end of 2020 and include H-1B visas provided to 85,000 workers each year.
It will also cover most J visas, common for academics and researchers, and L visas used by companies to shift workers based overseas to their US offices.
Though Trump said the decision was taken to create jobs for Americans hurting economically due to the pandemic, tech companies, which are mostly affected by the ban, think otherwise.
A Twitter spokesperson, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan wrote;
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.
Statement on US high-skilled immigration proclamation:
“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.
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) June 22, 2020
She stressed;
“Unilaterally and unnecessarily stifling America’s attractiveness to global, high-skilled talent is short-sighted and deeply damaging to the economic strength of the United States.” —@jesirae
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) June 22, 2020
On its part, Amazon said the measures ‘put America’s global competitiveness at risk’.
An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider;
Preventing high skilled professionals from entering the country and contributing to America’s economic recovery puts America’s global competitiveness at risk.
CEO of Alphabet – Google’s parent company – Sundar Pichai tweeted;
Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation – we’llcontinue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.
Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation – we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) June 22, 2020
Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie tweeted that Trump’s measures are ‘unbelievably bad policy’ on every level, saying;
This is unbelievably bad policy on every level. It will only mean more jobs move outside the US, and in no way makes America better or more competitive. https://t.co/hGVzhkXHuX
— Aaron Levie (@levie) June 22, 2020
In the digital economy, you hire where the talent is. When you restrict immigration, the jobs still get created, just somewhere else. And later down the road, when those individuals create the next Google, it won’t be here.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) June 22, 2020
If you truly believe in “America First” then you’d want to bet on people that have uprooted their lives to come to America to study and contribute research, help us innovate, join our workforces, or start new companies. That’s as America First as it gets.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) June 23, 2020
A Facebook spokesperson stated that it will be even more difficult for the US to recover after coronavirus because of the measures.
Reports said the country most hit by the ban is India as Indians take up nearly 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued every year.
The visa is useful for Indian tech giants like Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as it allows them to send workers from India to manage important projects.
It also helps US tech giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter hire talent from India.
The ban announced by Trump will only affect individuals who are planning to apply for the visa – which means those who have already got it and are working in the US will not be affected.
However, H-1B visa holders who travelled to their home countries due to the pandemic will not be allowed to re-enter the US until the end of the year.
President Trump also issued directions for a broader reform of the H-IB visa regime that will replace the current lottery system with a merit based system that will favor those who are offered the highest wages and target doctors, lawyers, academics, and highly skilled people.
US officials said;
This will drive up both wage level and skill level. It will also eliminate competition with Americans for entry level jobs.
The official added that the President had also directed that all loopholes enabling outsourcing of jobs should be closed.
According to the official, the new reforms proposed by Trump will ensure that jobs go to those who are paid the highest wages and ‘America gets the best and brightest talent’.
The move comes as Trump feuds with tech giants Twitter and Snapchat over the US President’s censored or hidden posts, which the companies believe incited violence or were misleading.
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It would also be recalled that last month, Trump signed an order seeking to strip social media giants of legal immunity for content on their platforms, a move slammed by his critics as a legally dubious act of political revenge.
