Elephants Are Great, But So Are Immigrants
NOV 19, 2017 @ 12:48 AM 2,906
Elephants Are Great, But So Are Immigrants
Stuart Anderson , CONTRIBUTOR
I write about globalization, business, technology and immigration. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
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An elephant in Kruger National Park, South Africa, the world's largest wildlife park. (ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
After criticism that a regulation allowing hunters to import African elephant trophies would harm endangered elephants, Donald Trump and his Secretary of Interior announced that the decision would be reviewed. However, on the same day, the Trump administration remained silent after the San Francisco Chronicle reported on a planned regulation to take away the right to work from tens of thousands of spouses of high-skilled foreign-born professionals.
A little background helps explain the issue’s importance. Today, a high-skilled foreign national in H-1B status typically waits years, potentially even decades, for permanent residence (a green card). The per-country limit and the low annual number of employment-based green cards create the long waits. (An interview last month with Rep. Kevin Yoder explained how legislation could help solve the problem.)
Prior to May 2015, as if in a throwback to the 1930s or the frontier days, the spouses of H-1B visa holders could not legally work in the United States. The May 26, 2015 final rule on “Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses” changed that by allowing spouses to work if the H-1B professional they married has an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker or is waiting an extended period of time for an employment-based green card.
The regulation aligned the United States closer to how Canada and Australia treat the spouses of professionals, while also changing many people’s lives for the better. Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell told the story of Keerthi Ranjith, a teacher in India, who was prohibited from working in the United States from 2004 to 2015, as she waited for her H-1B visa holder husband to receive his employment-based green card. Because the wait times are longer for people from India (due to the per-country limits) her husband is still waiting. But after the regulation went into effect, Keerthi’s life – and many others – changed.
“She moved fast,” reported Rampell. “Within a month, she opened the South Riding Learning Center. Today nearly 250 students are enrolled, and she employs more than 15 people.” Keerthi Ranjith said, “All my employees are citizens, of course. They were all born here.” Rampell noted, “Now, under President Trump in the White House and [Jeff] Sessions at the Justice Department, Ranjith and her 15 American employees may all lose their jobs.”
When the regulation was proposed, then-Senator Jeff Sessions claimed that allowing the spouses of high-skilled foreign nationals – primarily women – to work would exacerbate “high joblessness for current American residents.” The prediction proved to be without merit.
The nation’s unemployment rate fell from 6.3 percent when the rule was first proposed in May 2014 down to 4.1 percent in October 2017. That’s because new people do not increase joblessness when they enter the labor force. When people start working they spend their earnings on goods and services that help create other jobs, while also encouraging new employment by investing, starting businesses and through other means. In fact, fewer workers ultimately mean less economic growth and lower standards of living, since labor force growth is an important element of economic growth.
The problem for spouses is Jeff Sessions is now Attorney General and his staff has filled key positions on immigration in the administration, along with other individuals, who, it is fair to say, are determined to reduce the number of immigrants coming to or living in the United States.
A group called Save Jobs USA filed a lawsuit over the rule and rather than defend the regulation, the Justice Department under Jeff Sessions asked the court for more time to formulate an administration position. Trisha Thadani of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the position the Trump administration intends to announce – likely before the next court deadline of January 2, 2018 – is to eliminate the regulation and the ability of spouses of H-1B visa holders to work in America.
Any legal or economic justification for repealing the rule is likely to be weak and certain to invite additional litigation. Removing the spouses of high-skilled foreign nationals from the U.S. workforce will not improve the lives of anyone in America. And it tells researchers and professionals around the world to pursue opportunities in other countries because their spouses will have to sit home and give up their careers if they come to the U.S.
Making life miserable for the families of highly skilled professionals should not fill anyone in government with pride in accomplishing a goal. It’s nice that the administration has decided to take a second look at how best to help elephants. It would be even nicer if this new-found affection for elephants extended to immigrants and their families.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2017/11/19/elephants-are-great-but-so-are-immigrants/#6e8a539151df
