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A federal judge has rejected two Trump administration rules that limited the number of visas made available to skilled foreign workers.
Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, a George. Bush named, rejects changes the administration announced in October to the H-1B visa program, which included salary requirements for companies that employed skilled workers from overseas and placed new limits on skilled occupations. Officials have defended the move as necessary due to the number of jobs lost during the coronavirus pandemic and estimated that about a third of H-1B visa applications would be denied.
White ruled that the administration had not properly followed transparency procedures and that his claims that the changes were an emergency response to the economic fallout from the pandemic were unfounded since the October rule was implemented after months of speculation.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is an event beyond the control of the accused, but it was under the control of the accused to take action sooner than they did,” White wrote.
“The defendants have not shown that there are good reasons to dispense with the rational and considered speech provided by the [Administrative Procedure Act’s] notice and comment requirements, ”concluded White.
The United States issues approximately 85,000 visas each year to highly skilled foreign workers, a large portion of which goes to technology, engineering or medical companies and often last three years with the option of renewal.
The United States Chamber of Commerce, along with several universities, sued the administration, arguing that the public did not have enough time to comment on the new rules and that the changes in pay, which would essentially force companies to dramatically increase what they pay foreign workers, would force the dismissal of many employees.
The Trump administration has made limiting all forms of immigration a priority. The October change, implemented just before the November elections, followed an interim order in June from the president to suspend the H-1B program until the end of 2020.
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