Narayan AmmachchiPresident Donald Trump has issued another executive order, barring federal agencies from replacing Americans with foreign workers holding an H1B visa.
The action will no doubt complicate the operations of many IT services providers in the country, as it prompts a study to find out how many federal jobs are held by foreigners.
In fact, the order comes in response to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s decision to lay off 62 IT workers by outsourcing data and programming work to a third party services provider.
The H1B visa program, designed to bring high-skilled technology workers into the United States, has become a political hot potato, with President Trump trying hard to increase his appeal among American voters in this election year.
This is his second executive order in the past three months after he suspended many work visas programs until the end of this year. The latest order requires federal agencies to prefer Americans and green card holders for contract positions.
The news comes at a time the White House is pushing ahead with its plan to make drastic changes to the H1B visa program.
Meanwhile, a few US business groups have brought a legal suit against the Trump administration over his June executive order, temporarily suspending the H1B visa program.
Thomas Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that he was seeking to “overturn these sweeping and unlawful immigration restrictions”, adding that the visa-holders are “critical workers who help drive the American economy.”
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