President Donald Trump has issued several Executive Orders and Memos this week regarding immigration – below is our summary of the draft order regarding “Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs”
Recognizes that:
- Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest.
- It is the policy of the Trump administration to implement the immigration laws, to the extent consistent with law, in a manner that prioritizes the national interest and protects, to the maximum degree possible, the jobs, wages, and well-being of U.S. workers.
Directs the DHS Secretary to:
- Review all regulations that allow foreign nationals to work in the United States and determine which of those regulations are not in the national interest and should be rescinded.
- Promulgate a regulation to clarify that parole may never be used to avoid immigration caps and programs authorized by Congress.
- Immediately terminate existing parole policies that do not comport with the above principles.
- Identify ways to expand the use of E-Verify within the bounds of existing law.
- Promulgate a regulation to restore the integrity of employment-based nonimmigrant worker programs and better protect U.S. and foreign workers affected by those programs.
- Consider ways to make H-1B allocation more efficient and ensure that beneficiaries of the program are the best and brightest rather than arbitrarily distributed by lottery.
- Start performing site visits at places that employ L-1 nonimmigrant workers and then expand the site visit program to cover all employment-based visa programs within two years.
- Establish a commission to analyze current immigration policies, and then provide recommendations on how to move towards a merit-based admissions system.
- Improve monitoring of foreign students and reform practical training programs for foreign students to prevent the disadvantaging of U.S. students in the workforce.
- Promulgate a regulation to clarify that aliens on tourist visas may not perform skilled or unskilled labor.
- Submit to the President a list of options for ensuring the efficient processing of petitions for the H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural visa program.
Directs the DHS Secretary and Secretary of State to:
- Align with Congressional intent the manner in which the State Department and DHS determine when an immigrant visa is “immediately available.”
- Promulgate a regulation that would reform how aliens file for adjustment to lawful permanent residence.
- Promulgate a regulation that reforms the E-2 treaty investor visa category.
Directs the Secretary of State to:
- Reform the J-1 Summer Work Travel program to improve protections of U.S. workers and participating foreign workers.
Reports from the relevant agencies:
- A report investigating the extent of any injury to U.S. workers caused by the employment of foreign workers admitted under nonimmigrant visa programs.
- Two reports per year on the number of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued and the categories or bases for issuance of all such EADs.
- A report detailing the total number of foreign-born workers in the United States and then immediately restart work on regular benefit fraud assessments for all immigration benefits categories.
- A report each year on immigration patterns in the United States, including an estimate of the size of the foreign-born population in the United States.
- The U.S. Census Bureau should include questions to determine U.S. citizenship and immigration status during the decennial census.
- A detailed description of the effect of immigration on wages and employment of U.S. workers since FY 2000.
Full text of DRAFT Executive Order available here.