Immigration attorneys in Miami, Florida are concerned that the American economy will suffer a fallout if a proposed revamping of a visa requirement system by President Donald Trump’s administration becomes reality.
Trump is advocating for changes in visas for persons who travel to the U.S. for business, who are transferred to a U.S. affiliate or subsidiary or who have been hired by American companies or have enrolled as students in U.S. universities.
The attorneys, Tammy Fox-Isicoff and Jordana Hart , both specialize in business and student visas. Their concerns stem from a draft executive order now circulating in the U.S. capital of Washington that seeks a review of various types of visas foreign nationals use to enter the United States as visitors for business, to invest in and manage enterprises under treaty accords or to work in companies for an extended period as staff employees or as workers in an American affiliate or subsidiary of a foreign firm. At least two other types of business-related visas would also be reviewed under the draft order: those used by temporary agricultural workers and those reserved for university students.
Both were interviewed by the Miami Herald.
President Trump has signed a raft of executive orders designed to restrict the movements and activities of certain foreign nationals, both legal and undocumented.
The Department of Homeland Security recently revealed new policies that allow federal immigration agents to detain and process for possible deportation virtually any foreign national who has been convicted of a crime, charged with a crime or suspected of having committed a crime.
The attorneys interviewed told the Miami Herald that their analysis of the draft order indicates that Trump and aides want to restrict the entry of business travelers in a bid to protect the jobs of U.S. workers, including American citizens and green-card holders. Such restrictions, the attorneys said, could have a devastating impact on the American economy.
“In the name of making America great again, they’re going to damage U.S. companies and make them so they can’t compete with foreign-owned companies,” Tammy Fox-Isicoff said.
Hart, said the draft order also would wreak havoc with the studies and training of foreign nationals in American universities studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the so-called STEM fields.
“The draft order would further narrow an already very narrow path for all of these students,” Hart said.
The draft order is titled Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs.
