President Trump’s Visa Ban Impact Worsened by Outdated Immigration Policies

The H-1B Visa is Not Enough

Because the U.S. does not have specialized pathways to permanent residency for many skilled immigrants like international graduates, entrepreneurs, or physicians, these individuals and their families often have to rely on the H-1B visa to secure employment and remain in the country while they pursue permanent residency, which can take many years. This creates a great deal of uncertainty and makes them vulnerable to sudden changes in policy and procedure – exactly what is happening now.

Many aspiring immigrants remain in temporary status because Congress has not made enough green cards available each year. The total number of employment-based green cards issued each year is capped by law at 140,000, of which about 50,000 go to skilled workers themselves; the distribution is limited further so that only 7% can go to individuals from a single country. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of individuals are granted temporary H-1B status (85,000 individuals as part of the “H-1B lottery” alone) each year, but relatively few are allowed to adjust to permanent residency, creating a growing population in temporary status.

Status Quo Hinders Economy and Puts Immigrants at Risk

Widely-supported bipartisan legislation to eliminate the per-country caps passed the House last year, but is still awaiting a vote in the Senate. Legislators on both sides of the aisle have also proposed expanding legal immigration programs, including establishing a Startup Visa and fast-tracking health care workers’ green cards – but Congress has yet to act on these, either, even as the status quo continues to hinder our economy and prevent the creation of new jobs.

Keeping hundreds of thousands of people stuck indefinitely in temporary status is unfair to the visa holders and restricts long-term residents from fully contributing to the U.S. labor force, such as qualified healthcare workers who were barred from serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response – holding them back from helping to save lives – because of their H-1B status. And their futures in America are in constant jeopardy, especially during the pandemic; even before the new proclamation, many nonimmigrant visa holders struggled to maintain their status because of severe agency backlogs and consulate closures.

This uncertainty also makes the United States far less attractive to global talent. In recent years, enrollment rates among international students have fallen while immigrants stuck in the backlog have increasingly explored job opportunities in competing countries like Canada (where the permanent residency process can be as fast as six months), or back in their own home countries.