As the Biden administration works to reverse Donald Trump’s immigration policies, H1-B workers reflect on their experiences during the last four years and share hopes for the changes in store and their future in the country.
From the start of his term, the Trump administration has tightened up on the skilled worker visa program, framing changes under the guise of protecting American jobs. In 2017, the former president called the H1-B program a “theft of American prosperity” and vowed to revamp its lottery-based process. Since then, he has raised the wages that U.S. companies must pay foreign hires, narrowed eligibility criteria for applicants, and rescinded work authorization for spouses of some H1-B visa holders.
The frequent rule changes are a source of confusion and instability for H1-B workers and prospective applicants. A source said the constant back and forth prevents the development of a long-term plan to address the lottery’s flaws.
“There should be some continuity with the H1-B process,” said the source, who plans to apply for the visa after finishing his Ph.D. “There’s been a lot of back and forth where before 2016, some Democratic candidates were planning on expanding it. But then, when Trump came into power, he started to curb legal immigration and H1-B through executive orders. And now again, we have another administration try to reverse that.”
As one of his parting shots to the H1-B program, Trump extended the freeze on H1-B visas along with other types of foreign work visas by three months to March 31. Then, just days before leaving office, he announced a final rule to raise qualifying minimum wage levels for visa holders. Trump has long criticized employers for abusing the program to replace American workers with cheaper immigrant labor.
The wage rule was scheduled to go into effect on March 9. Under president Joe Biden’s freeze on pending regulations, it will now be delayed through May 14, allowing U.S. Department of Labor officials to review the policy for 60 days. The change will not apply to the upcoming H1-B filing season, expected to commence in March.
Mariana, an H1-B worker from Brazil who works at a top technology company, said that the rule makes sense in prioritizing higher salary workers, as those individuals often have been waiting for longer. However, she thinks it limits prospects for college students and will deter international students from coming to the U.S. to pursue new opportunities.
Lisa Vu, a Vietnamese immigrant who works in software engineering, said that Trump’s rule wouldn’t affect her personal chances when reapplying for the H1-B visa this upcoming cycle after not getting selected in 2020. However, she understands why there is backlash for using wage as the sole criteria.
She said that even when you consider level four wages, which correspond with the most expert level of workers, “someone from Texas might have a higher chance to get the H1-B visa than someone from San Francisco, for example, because Texas’s living costs and salaries are lower, so the bar is lower.”
Biden has said that he will pursue “a wage-based allocation process and establish enforcement mechanisms to ensure they are aligned with the labor market and not used to undermine wages.”
Gerald thinks that although wage is a good measure, the lottery also needs to evaluate the specific skills an individual brings, when considering selection criteria. Possession of certain coveted skill sets, he emphasized, does not always correspond directly with salary.
Still, he believes “if the H1-B system is taking advantage of workers at the cost of flooding in more people, letting more people apply and get accepted, I think there’s an issue with that. I think I’d rather have a more equitable, fair selection process where people aren’t being taken advantage of, even though it makes it a bit more selective.”
Vu said that the H1-B program’s strict requirements — such as having to find another job within 60 days if you get laid off — cause most worker mistreatment to go unreported. “As a foreigner, you don’t have a lot of say in terms of salary and your work conditions,” she said. “If they are being abused or if they get paid lower than most of their coworkers, most of them wouldn’t speak up, just because that would jeopardize their life in the U.S.”
Additionally, she suggested for the lottery system to be less randomized. She referenced systems in other countries, like Canada and Australia, that also consider factors like age, language proficiency, and skills and experience.
Beyond changes to the H1-B rules themselves, Trump has also had an undeniable influence on the nation’s general sentiment surrounding immigration.
Gerald said that a new administration does not mean the beliefs of the American people will necessarily change. “I think what the previous administration allowed was for people who previously held those anti-immigrant sentiments to be more vocal about it. So I don’t think it’s going to change the sentiments of the people who already hold it, but it might be less visible.”
Mariana agreed. “Just because we elected a new president, it doesn’t mean that will magically go away,” she said, referring to prejudice towards immigration in the news. “Those people are still around and doing harm, and it seems like it won’t be addressed soon.”
Another H1-B hopeful, Cindy,* who works in advertising, shared that her greatest worry as she enters the lottery for a second time this April is the lack of control over her situation. “I can make sure I have a good application, but whether that gets me selected in the lottery is out of my hand. I think that’s made me worried the most,” she said.
The uncertainty is a trend among the H1-B workers interviewed by Sampan, even those with “backup” plans. For Gerald, knowing he would have to apply for an H1-B visa in the future “absolutely” played a role in deciding to pursue an advanced degree. “I realized that doing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering would help me develop a specific skill set that would make me more valuable to companies and increase my chances of being sponsored or being hired by an American company,” he said.
Lisa is considering a similar path. She talked to managers about taking classes for a master’s degree while working. “If there’s any chance that I don’t get an H1-B after three years, for example, I can always go back and get a master’s degree,” Vu said. “That’s definitely a plan that I have on the table, in case something goes south.”
After an unsuccessful lottery in 2020, Mariana is currently on an OPT extension, which allows graduates to work in an area related to their study for a total of 12 months or longer if they have a STEM degree. But instead of pursuing H1-B again, she said she would prefer to leave the U.S. when her extension ends, citing the nation’s rise of unresolved political turmoil and anti-immigrant attitudes as the reason.
“I feel like the U.S. kind of feels like a bubble that is going to explode soon, and I don’t want to be here for that,” she explained. “Back home, everyone has this hope that America is a great place,” Mariana said. “But I feel like that’s a vision from years ago, like the propaganda of the American dream. And these four years, I’ve really seen that it’s not the case. Or it’s the case if you have a lot of money.”
*Editor’s Note: Name has been changed to protect the identity of the interviewee.
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