The Department of Homeland Security released the Unified Agenda this month showing that the Trump administration is proposing new immigration regulations that would have a dramatic effect on employers, international students, H-1B and L-1 visa holders, EB-5 investors, and asylum seekers, among others. Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, writes in Forbes that the agenda is "ambitious and far-reaching" and an "attempt to lock into place changes to immigration policy that cannot be easily undone, regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election."
Some of the proposals include the following:
H-1B: A proposed H-1B rule would revise the “definition of specialty occupation to increase focus on obtaining the best and the brightest foreign nationals via the H-1B program, and revise the definition of employment and employer-employee relationship to better protect U.S. workers and wages.” Anderson notes that this rule could be “used to defend the administration against lawsuits from companies that contend many actions by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on H-1B petitions have violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not going through the rulemaking process.”
H-4 EAD: The administration wants to rescind a popular rule allowing many spouses of H-1B holders to apply for employment authorization in the US.
L-1: Obtaining an L-1 visa is already difficult, and now the administration wants to make it even harder. The summary of the proposed rule states: “In order to improve the integrity of the L-1 program, the Department of Homeland Security will propose to revise the definition of specialized knowledge, to clarify the definition of employment and employer-employee relationship, and ensure employers pay appropriate wages to L-1 visa holders.”
International Students: Despite the fact that new enrollment of international students at American universities has declined by more than ten percent between the 2015-16 and 2018-2019 academic years, the Trump administration plans to target Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows international students to work in US for certain amounts of time after graduating.
The administration is additionally proposing rules that would potentially affect family sponsorship, adjustment of status applicants, parole and employment authorization, international entrepreneurs, EB-5 investors, and asylum seekers. Anderson notes: “There is one glaring omission from the Trump administration’s regulatory agenda – any measure to make it easier for foreign-born individuals to work, study or live in the United States.”