The Insanity of American Immigration Policy

San Francisco / June 22, 2020

The Trump Administration is suspending the H-1B and H-4 (for H-1B spouses) program until the end of the year (link). This will be very painful to many immigrants and their families who have dreams of living and working over the long term in the United States.

A White House statement says the motive is to “ensure American workers take first priority as we recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus.” Okay. How does this policy reduce unemployment among American workers?

The people who qualify for H-1B visas have real skills. They are driven and very ambitious. These people take risks, start companies, and create jobs for Americans with a wide range of skills, backgrounds, and abilities. Visit the offices of any startup in Silicon Valley. You will find many immigrants and children immigrants starting and growing these companies. The San Francisco Bay Area feels like the United Nations at times. A competent Administration would design immigration strategies to attract high-skilled immigrants.

There are a significant number of successful entrepreneurs working on technology policy in the White House. What are these people doing? Do they actually agree with this policy? I’m aware that President Trump has many political constituencies that he must satisfy if he wants to win re-election. Even if he “wins” this game and gets re-elected, what comes next? Will he continue this policy in his second term? Will his successor President Tom Cotton, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, continue this strategy after 2024? When does this madness end?

The suspension of the H-1B visa program will cause a lot of pain to real people around the world. There are families who have planned for years to migrate to the United States. It is sad.

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Babur is an entrepreneur and writer. See more of his writing at https://baburkhwaja.com.