Such a change could significantly impact large Indian IT companies which bring thousands of engineers and programmers on H-1B visas to work on USA projects, says IT analyst Girish Pai.
On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the "Buy American and Hire American" executive order (EO), which addresses H-1B visas. The agencies also would propose changes so that the visas are only given to "most-skilled or highest-paid applicants", an administration official told the AP.
Chuck Grassley, would require companies seeking H-1B visas to first make a good-faith effort to hire Americans, a requirement many companies can dodge under the current system; give the Labor Department more power to investigate and sanction H-1B abuses; and give "the best and brightest" foreign students studying in the US priority in getting H-1B visas.
In the past year, the number of H-1B visa applications has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A famous case would be Walt Disney, who replaced a large number of United States technology workers with foreign workers who were willing to accept lower wages. The government uses a lottery to award 65,000 visas yearly and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers. 85,000 new H-1B visas are handed out every year, and another 100,000 are extended or reissued, but where do all these new arrivals hail from?
Trump made it clear that he doesn't agree with fact that H-1Bs are now doled out under a lottery system. The company has used existing visa waiver laws in order to fill positions with foreign workers in Trump properties such as Mar-a-Lago and Trump Winery.
Meanwhile, some USA lawmakers said the executive order signed by Trump calling for a review of H-1B visas was too little and too late.
States Most Dependent on Trade With Canada
NAFTA also stipulates that goods be freely traded, without import taxes, between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In each case, worldwide tribunals have ruled in Canada's favour. "The accusations are baseless and unfounded".
The order, which Trump signed after delivering his remarks, looks to bolster protections for certain American-made goods.
"Right now, H-1B visas are being awarded in a totally random lottery, and that's wrong".
Focusing exclusively on H-1B workers is short-sighted and fails to address the well-documented abuse of other temporary guest workers, whose visa categories lack the oversight available in the H-1B program, even where the abuse rises to the level of human trafficking.
They included a promise to pursue more investigations of fraud and abuses and a warning to employers applying for the visas not to discriminate against United States workers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it received 199,000 applications for the fiscal year that begins on October 1.
Trump Jr. made the comment during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who said before the conversation that President Trump is taking steps to fulfill his promise of bringing jobs back to America. A close family member lost his job to a foreign worker because of this visa.
The H-1B visa is a good thing in many cases.
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