After immigration, Trump govt drafts order on work visas

Rishma KapurMoneycontrolThe brewing discontent between Donald Trump and the Silicon Valley is likely to widen as the Trump administration has drafted an executive order aimed at examining the current work-visa programmes, including the H1B visa. Most of the big technology companies, including Indian IT firms, are dependent on these work-visa programmes for hiring employees every year. Close to 90 percent of Indian technology workers use H1B visas. Donald Trump’s recent move to ban refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations has upset big companies including Google, Microsoft and Facebook. The move has been seen as a violation to the country’s principles and has the potential to disrupt its innovation streak. The draft concentrates mostly on recruiting the American citizens first, says a report in Livemint. For foreign visas, the top priority will be to protect interest of US citizens and their jobs. The draft includes array of visa programs like H1B, L-1, E-2 and B1. The new reforms, if implemented, will impact Indian companies like Infosys and Wipro, who have a large portion of businesses in the US. American companies like Apple, Google and Amazon, who recruit heavily from India will have to change paths. These companies will give priority to natives first and in case of foreign recruits, priority would be given to those who are paid the most. The US had established work visa to ease hiring process from abroad. The move falls in line with Donald Trump’s promises of job creation for the citizens in all sectors. Media reports also suggest that the draft contains sections for regularizing and monitoring of foreign students as well.