Big Tech Isn't the Only Loser in Trump's Visa Freeze
Barring highly skilled workers from the U.S., even temporarily, risks missing out on future innovation, plus the economic growth and jobs that go with it.
Photographer: Jessica Kou/Bloomberg
The Silicon Valley innovation machine is the envy of the world. It’s where the most ambitious entrepreneurs go to start their world-changing companies. But President Donald Trump’s latest action to restrict immigration may needlessly risk the future of this key strategic asset. Perhaps, instead, we shouldn’t mess with something that is working.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order that freezes access to a number of work visas through year-end, including the H-1B visa for highly-skilled foreigners, which is primarily given to workers in the technology industry. The issuance of new green cards will also stay halted until the end of the year. The administration said the order would free up jobs for unemployed Americans, adding it would block about 500,000 people from entering the country this year.
The move sparked an avalanche of criticism from technology companies. They said the measures will hurt their ability to recruit talent and have deeper negative ramifications for the economy. An Amazon.com Inc. spokesperson called the order “short-sighted,” adding it prevents “high skilled professionals from entering the country and contributing to America’s economic recovery, [putting] American’s global competitiveness at risk.” A Facebook Inc. representative said Trump is using the pandemic as justification for “limiting” immigration, which will make “our country’s recovery even more difficult.” And Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith said on social media, “Now is not the time to cut our nation off from the world’s talent or create uncertainty and anxiety.”