Foreign born workers have
always played a substantial
role in the
American economy.
In 2019, there were twenty
eight point four million
migrant workers in the U.S.
labor force, accounting for over
17 percent of the
total labor force.
So in the last three decades,
half of the increase in
labor force in the United
States has been because of
immigrants and
their children.
The second statistic says in
the next three decades,
almost all of the increase
in labor force would be
because of immigration.
However, President Trump's immigration
policy has set
limits to the number of
both legal and illegal workers
in the United States.
On June 22nd, President
Trump signed an executive
order suspending the entry
of certain types of
temporary foreign workers
into the U.S.
until 2021.
They're going to press pause on
a lot of these visas
for foreign workers coming
into the United States
because of the high unemployment
rate in the United
States. They say
senior administration officials
saying they want to see
a America first economic
recovery that starts
with Americans.
Big tech companies, Apple,
Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft
use H-1B visas.
Analysts say any restriction
or increase in salary
requirements could result in
big tech sending more
jobs offshore.
However, activists who support
less immigration feel
it's a win
for American workers.
Voters are seeing that President
Trump is taking action
on an issue they care about,
which is making sure that
our immigration system
does not disadvantage
Americans. So how does banning
work visas impact the
U.S. economy?
On April 21st, President Trump
first announced a 60 day
pause on the issuance
of new green cards.
It specifically included
potential immigrant workers
and relatives of green card
holders in an effort to
limit competition for jobs in
the United States during
the coronavirus recession.
By pausing immigration will
help put unemployed
Americans first in line for
jobs as America reopens so
important. After record breaking
jobs increases in May
and June, President Trump
extended the April
proclamation until the end of
the year on June 22nd,
reporting that the proclamation
freed up roughly 50000
jobs for American citizens,
along with the extension
the Trump administration also
expanded the order to
include nonimmigrants signing an
executive order to
freeze five work related
visa categories until
December 31st.
The five targeted visas include
the H-1B visa for
workers in highly specialized
occupations, the H-4
visas for spouses or children
of H-1B holders, the H-2B
visa for nonagricultural low
skilled workers, the J1
visa for work and student
exchanges, and the L-1 visa
for intra
company transfers.
A new revision to the
proclamation on July 16th,
however, allows dependent family
members to apply for
a visa as long as
the primary visa holder currently
resides within the
United States.
There are a couple of
reasons why those particular
categories were selected
for the suspension.
One is because these are
the largest guest worker
programs that we have.
And the other reason is that
these are some of the
most problematic in terms of
both fraud and also
displacement of U.S.
workers. The order also
specifically applies to visa
applicants from abroad, while
those currently within
the United States can still
apply for any temporary
work visas. Supreme Court has
said that the president
has the power to limit
entry into the United States
because that is listed
clearly in the Constitution.
But, for Trump to stop
immigration within the United
States work status or a
green card from being approved
on within the United States,
that can be easily seen
as overstepping his power.
I think the president was
looking for a balance between
wanting to make sure that
there are opportunities for
Americans and legal immigrants
who have already come
and not stressing our labor
market at this particular
time and also recognizing that
it could be disruptive
to employers who have
already hired and trained
these workers who
are here today.
A lot of people
who enter the U.S.
do so without a visa
through the waiver program with
38 partner countries and
Taiwan, which allows travel
to the U.S. for
up to 90 days.
However, any foreign citizen
who does not apply
through that program or wishes
to stay longer must
obtain a visa that's
appropriate for their situation.
There are almost two
hundred and sixteen different
types of visas offered
in the United States.
They're separated into two
main categories immigrant
visas and
nonimmigrant visas.
So nonimmigrant visas are
generally temporary in
nature. So that means you're
at some point going to
leave the United States.
But immigrant visa means
you're coming to stay.
All non immigrant workers
seeking employment in the
U.S. must first obtain a
temporary work visa that
allows them to stay in the
country for a fixed period
of time. Many of the
permanent immigrants are also
they first came here
as temporary immigrants.
So temporary immigrants are
the primary source for
permanent immigration and that
in the long term,
you'll also see temporary
immigrants becoming a much
bigger source of labor
force in the U.S.
economy. Temporary work visas
have long been the
subject of scrutiny under
the Trump administration and
those who support reducing
immigration into the U.S..
The problem is that our
existing temporary work visa
programs and even the
permanent green card programs
are not bringing in
necessarily uniquely qualified
best in the brightest type
workers that they are
bringing in workers who have
worked for companies that
were able to bypass American
workers and exploit the
visa system to enhance
their own profits.
Alternatively, immigration advocates
suggest that
temporary work visas are working
exactly as it should.
Studies show that in the
first 10 years of their
arrival, 30 percent of
foreigners actually leave.
And among temporary workers,
a much larger proportion
leave. Those who do well,
those who assimilate well
stay here, those who don't
do well go back.
And that's the kind of
system we really want.
The ban on temporary work
visas will have a significant
impact on the
American economy.
Temporary immigrants may not be
more than two or three
percent of the labor force,
but they are critical in
many sectors. And if temporary
workers are a source
for permanent immigration,
that permanent immigration
would be affected by.
The Economic Policy Institute
also predicts that the
extended April proclamation will
reduce the number of
immigrants receiving green cards
by nearly a third
compared to those
received in 2019.
Although foreign born workers
only account for
seventeen point four percent
of the total workforce,
pro immigration experts argue that
they play a vital
role in the American economy,
working in jobs that
Americans are not willing to
do or just aren't capable
of performing. Immigrants do
not displace native
workers. They replace native
workers in the sense
that, for instance, in the
agriculture sector, a lot
of those jobs natives are
not willing to take.
And it's not just the
agriculture sector, but also in
many high
skilled professions.
Also, for instance, doctors, they
are about 30 percent
of all doctors in the U.S.
are foreign born. Those
that advocate for less
immigration suggest
otherwise.
No, there there is no such
thing as a job an American
won't do. Particularly in this
pandemic shut down when
we have tens of millions
of Americans who are either
temporarily or permanently
lost their job.
And we're looking at something
like at least 10
percent unemployment.
You really can't make the
case that there aren't
Americans available to do
these jobs at this
particular time. Bans on some
visa types are also
expected to impact certain
sectors more than others.
For instance, a ban on
H-1B will likely have a
detrimental impact on the
tech sector that relies
heavily on foreign talent.
The tech industry is one of
the most prolific users of
the guest workers.
They there are tech companies
that have built an entire
business model as staffing
companies on bringing in
workers from abroad to offer
at cheaper rates to do
what is really entry level
or more routine work, not
requiring any special skills,
but being able to
provide these workers
at lower cost.
Despite its intention to save
more jobs for the
American people, some experts argue
that the ban could
do more harm than good,
citing a positive correlation
between immigration and
economic growth.
Temporary workers are a very
tiny component of the U.S.
labor force. I don't think
it's more than three
percent. I think maybe two
percent at the most are
temporary workers.
And then they are
critically in certain industries.
They are not a huge
component of all the industries.
And then these workers themselves
create a lot of
jobs. Immigrants also pay more
than 90 billion dollars
in taxes every year while
receiving only five dollars
billion in welfare, according
to the ACLU.
Experts also believe that
blocking immigration could
also allow other countries to
gain a competitive edge
in the global market.
The best and the brightest from
all over the world come
here have historically come here
to the United States.
And that's to
our benefit, right?
Because they come here, they
get a degree and many
stay. They're the ones that
start the tech companies
and other companies that
drive economic growth going
forward. And if they don't come
here in the wake of
this crisis, if they're scared
to come here, then
we're just not going to
have they're going to be
making starting those companies
in the countries from
which they came in, not
here in the US.
If immigrants are not allowed
to work here or if
temporary workers are not allowed
to come to the US,
companies will move to Canada
so that they can bring
these temporary workers
to Canada.
So America's loss would be
Canada's gain in the short
term. In the long term,
these companies might move to
China. So the workers might
decide to China, where
there's a lot of high
tech workers going on.
So America's loss would
then be China's gain.
