#alternate alternate Businesses Brace for Possible Limits on Foreign
   Worker Visas

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   U.S.|Businesses Brace for Possible Limits on Foreign Worker Visas
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Businesses Brace for Possible Limits on Foreign Worker Visas

   Citing the economic slump, the president could act this week to limit
   H-1B, L-1 and other visas as well as a program allowing foreign
   students to work in the United States after they graduate.
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   But recently she has been wracked with worry that the economic downturn
   that has left millions of Americans unemployed could threaten the visa
   program that would allow her to work as a foreigner in the United
   States once she graduates. “If I had to, I would consider Canada, the
   U.K. or Europe, but the U.S. is the place,” she said.
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   President Trump is expected to issue an executive order early this week
   to temporarily suspend various work visas that businesses rely on to
   hire foreigners, and also lay the groundwork for regulatory changes
   that would limit employment opportunities for foreign graduates of U.S.
   universities like Ms. Nasr.

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   describing it as protection for unemployed Americans amid the
   coronavirus pandemic. But he stopped short of suspending visas and
   programs that allow U.S. employers to hire foreign workers.

   Additional limitations on foreign skilled and seasonal workers are now
   in the works, said several people who have been communicating with the
   administration in an attempt to narrow the scope of the proposed new
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   A key target is expected to be the H-1B visa, often issued to computer
   programmers and other skilled workers who critics say often displace
   Americans from such jobs. The order is also expected to temporarily
   halt other visas, including L-1s, for executives transferred within
   companies; H-2Bs, for seasonal workers who often work in landscaping
   and hospitality; and J-1s, issued to au pairs, students on work-study
   summer programs and others.
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   In the 2019 fiscal year, almost 139,000 new H-1B petitions were
   approved; 77,000 L-1 visas were issued, as well as 66,000 H-2Bs, visas
   for unskilled workers that Mr. Trump has regularly used to staff his
   resorts. There were about 200,000 new J-1 workers hired in 2018,
   according to the latest data available. About 225,000 graduates of U.S.
   universities were authorized to remain in the country to work.
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   starting Oct. 1, according to people familiar with the planning.

   The proposed limits on foreign worker visas, if adopted, would be the
   latest restriction on immigration imposed by the Trump administration
   since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

   Immigration opponents argue that recipients of “nonimmigrant” visas
   compete with Americans for jobs, and that the present unemployment
   level justifies a clampdown.

   “The president should insist that certain employers who have found it
   to be cheaper and more convenient to hire visa workers instead cast
   down their bucket here first, and get used to hiring U.S. workers
   again,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for
   Immigration Studies, which lobbies to curb immigration. She said she
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   The planned new restrictions could hamper the ability of companies to
   relocate personnel, affecting both American multinationals that
   transfer employees from abroad to the United States and foreign firms
   that send employees to do stints in U.S. cities.

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   The letter from Americans for Prosperity and the Libre Initiative said
   research had shown that immigrants were key to an economic rebound.

   Thomas J. Donohue, chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
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   would induce employers to hire Americans and pay them higher wages.

   There could be risks in seriously reducing the number of foreign
   workers. Many businesses have learned during the pandemic that
   employees can work remotely from almost anywhere. If immigration is
   further restricted, companies might feel compelled to move jobs abroad,
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   Among the changes under consideration are eliminating the H-4 visa,
   which allows spouses of H-1B visa holders to work; ending the Optional
   Practical Training program, or shortening the time foreign graduates
   can work in the United States; and tightening H-1B requirements along
   with a $20,000 fee per applicant sponsored for the visa.
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   program, 21 Republican members of Congress this month called for it to
   remain intact, saying in a letter to the Trump administration that it
   was a magnet for foreign students — a key source of revenue for many
   universities, whose numbers have been falling.