06/03/2021

Nonprofits Challenge Trump-era H-1B Visa Rules

Graduating students, medical students might not qualify for H-1B visas

A coalition of nonprofit groups are challenging a Trump administration rule that would change the H-1B work visa selection system from a random lottery to a system favoring higher-paid workers.

The number of H-1B visas that can be issued each year is capped at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 visas available for workers with advanced degrees. The current lottery system is employed when the number of visa applications exceeds the caps.

The White House delayed implementation of the new rule until the end of next year, but Biden administration officials have signaled they may let the new policy stand. The Trump-era U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the H-1B program has been abused by employers seeking to fill lower-wage, entry-level positions and reduce payroll costs.

Nonprofit groups, led by the Humane Society of New York, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last month arguing that the change would make it difficult for nonprofits to compete with private companies for higher-skilled foreign labor. Another suit was filed in Oakland, Calif., by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups and universities to vacate multiple Trump administration regulations targeting H-1B visas.

Plaintiffs in the D.C. lawsuit stated in their petition that the new rule “unlawfully makes the H-1B visa selection process dependent on wage level and unlawfully gives priority for lottery selection to those H-1B applicants who are paid the highest wages.”

Greg Siskind, of Siskind Susser PC, who is representing petitioners, told reporters that graduating students and medical students would have a difficult time qualifying for H-1B visas.

“This rule may have sounded good to the people who came up with the idea, but it will cause disastrous collateral damage,” Siskind said.

This article was provided to OSAE by ASAE's Power of A and Inroads.