Corporate special interests, including the tech industry and the United States Chamber of Commerce, have launched a “quiet” lobbying effort against President Donald Trump’s crackdown on visa overstays, the Washington Post reports.
Last month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memo reiterating that, under “long-standing immigration law and immigration court decisions,” visa holders must apply to adjust status to a green card at consular offices outside the U.S.
“We’re returning to the original intent of the law to ensure aliens navigate our nation’s immigration system properly,” USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said at the time:
From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances. This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency. [Emphasis added]
In particular, USCIS is hoping to reduce the nation’s visa overstays by having temporary visa holders return to their native countries in order to apply for green cards. Prior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates have suggested that about half of the nation’s illegal alien population initially arrived on temporary visas and overstayed.
“Nonimmigrants, like students, temporary workers, or people on tourist visas, come to the U.S. for a short time and for a specific purpose. Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” Kahler said.
Since the announcement, the Washington Post reports that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Immigration Forum, and other corporate special interest groups, including tech industry insiders, have launched a lobbying campaign to shield their foreign workforces from the rules set out in the policy memo.
The Post reports:
In the ensuing days, multiple private discussions over the phone and email took place among prominent businesses, industry groups and CEOs with the White House and the departments of Homeland Security, Labor and State, according to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relay private conversations. The quiet but extensive lobbying effort has not been previously reported. [Emphasis added]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was among industry groups that pressed administration officials for further guidance and warned of the harms to their workforce last week, according to one of the people. The tech industry expressed concerns to the White House, according to one of the other people.
[Emphasis added]
White House and DHS officials told the Post that the policy memo is designed to make existing law clear that immigration officers can decide on a case-by-case basis whether a visa-holder must return to their home country to apply for a green card.
NumbersUSA’s Jeremy Beck told the Post that the policy memo is critical to disrupting the grip that employers have on foreign visa workers.
“The guidance does threaten to disrupt the captive labor benefit that employers enjoy in programs like the H-1B visa program,” Beck said. “I think what this guidance is doing … is merely exposing some of these long-standing problems with the nonimmigrant system.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
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