Trump's H-1B visa wage rule offers clues to immigration policy if ex-prez wins in November

If Donald Trump wins the election, an important Trump administration H-1B visa wage rule offers clues to US immigration policy.

f Donald Trump wins the election in November, a Trump administration rule in 2020 that was designed to price H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants out of the United States labour market offers clues to US immigration policy. 

The rule is blocked on procedural grounds. However, companies were alarmed when the rule boosted the required minimum salary for foreign-born professionals beyond the pay of similar United States employees.

The US Department of Labour in October 2020 published a rule that went on to raise the minimum wage needed for employers to pay H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants. 

At present, by law, employers are required to pay H-1B professionals the prevailing wage or actual wage paid to similar US workers. For employers to sponsor employment-based immigrants for permanent residence, the latter needs a prevailing wage determination. There was no change in the law, but the Trump administration wrote a regulation that led to the salaries required to be paid to foreign-born scientists and engineers to significantly increase.

The rule was published, following which immigration attorneys found that Trump officials had directed DOL to “hijack” the mathematical formula that had to be used to determine prevailing wages, Forbes reported.

After the formula was changed, employees were required to pay high-skilled foreign nationals much more than the market wage. This became clear under the Trump rule upon comparing private sector salary surveys to federal government wage determinations.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/trumps-h-1b-visa-wage-rule-offers-clues-to-immigration-policy-if-ex-prez-wins-in-november-101724135326540.html