Media has thus far paid limited attentions to the influence President Trump’s immigration reform has on legal immigrants. Widely knowing that the illegal immigrants’ futures are at stake, the public, especially Silicon Valley, is now concerning if legal and some highly educated immigrants will face the same dilemma.
In 2015, 1.05 million people obtained lawful permanent resident status in the U.S., 19.9% of whom now reside in California. In comparison, it is estimated that, also in 2015, 1.10 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. Compared with illegal immigrants, legal immigrants have been receiving more positive feedback from the U.S. society.
In Donald J. Trump’s 10 Point Plan to Put America First, Trump will only “reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, keeping immigration levels within historic norms.” Meanwhile, he has been tough on deporting illegal immigrants and restricting their accesses to the U.S.
It may sound that Trump is friendly to legal immigrants. There’s more to the story.
On Tuesday, Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and David Perdue (Ga.) proposed the RAISE Act (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) that will cut the number of issued green cards each year in half, from 1 million to about 500,000.
Breitbart, the pro-Trump news organization that owned by White house adviser Steve Bannon, reported that the act aims to “raise wages for ordinary Americans, restore legacy immigration levels, and reset family and worker visa programs."
The bill will mostly negatively affect people relying on family-based visas. If it is put into effect, only spouses and unmarried minor children of citizens and permanent residents, not including their siblings and parents that current law permits are eligible for green cards.
Although the RAISE Act will not attack employment-based legal immigration, in earlier January, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) introduced a legislation to make it more expensive and complicated for companies to sponsor perspective worker visa applicants. It will raise the minimum salary of H-1B visa, the most common and high-demanded worker visa, holders from current $60,000 to $130,000 per year. The legislation has faced strong backlash from the Silicon Valley where, according to 2016 Silicon Valley Index, 74 percent of the computer and mathematical workers ages 25 to 44 are foreign-born.
“We’re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers to bringing great talent to the US,” according to Google official statement.
On Jan 20, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) reintroduced the H-1B and L-1 Reform Bill to prioritize foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges getting H-1B and L-1 visas, under the circumstances that the visa holders are hired on positions that American workers are not qualified for. The bill is also intended to end the lottery that sets the quota for worker visas, a system that has been one of the biggest roadblocks for international students seeking to work legally in the U.S.
Considering President Trump has been on a shaky ground in terms of legal immigration reform and, interestingly, First Lady of the U.S., Melania Trump initially entered the U.S. using an H-1B visa back in 1996, it is thus far unclear what his next move will be. That being said, changes have happened along the way. Other visas like J-1, for foreign workers transferring to U.S. from companies abroad, OPT, for international students interning or working in the U.S. after graduation, and E-2, for investors, are also likely to be reconsidered and revised under the Trump presidency.
