Many people, on both sides of the figurative fence have found themselves very concerned about the proposed changes to the H-1B VISAs that are mostly given through a lottery system to immigrants who possess special skills that can be of great interest to the United States. The idea is that they would be awarded the VISA to enter the country and to work legally. However, there is a lot of debate about how the program has been working over the years and whether President Trump’s proposed plan to change it will make things better or worse.
Will The Immex Program Itself Be Affected By The VISA Changes?
First, let’s remember that nothing has happened yet and as many people have seen throughout history, what may start as the initial plan or bill, will change over the months or years until it is put into law. Currently, the Immex program, which is also known as maquiladoras in Mexico, along the Mexican and United States border. It provides many jobs for hard working Mexican citizens thanks to the deal between the two countries. United States companies receive incentives and tax breaks while Mexicans receive the jobs they so desperately need. Being the entire basis of Trump’s proposed plan is that Americans should have top priority and that more things need to start being made in America. Instead of a focus on a global economy and the well-being of mankind in general, Trump has made it clear that he intends to put America and Americans first. Everyone else will come last. Will this mean that the Immex deal with disappear? Honestly, only time can tell with something like this, as many laws are changed and revised so any times before they pass that they rarely resemble the original suggested law.
What Changes Are Proposed For The H-1B VISAs?
It has been said that these work VISAs are being improperly used. The original intent of these VISAs was to help highly-educated and skilled workers from other countries gain entry into the United States with the ability to work in their field of study. The payoff for the United States was that we receive highly-skilled workers for the jobs that provide many benefits and improvements to our society, that might actually be hard to fill with proper candidates here. So what went wrong? The claim is that many outsources are using these VISAs in order to fill thousands of low-level entry positions with people from other countries, when those jobs could have very well gone to one of the numerous unemployed American citizens. Revamping the bill should help get rid of loopholes that have been allowing some companies to pass up on the hiring of American citizens, forgoing the entry of skilled immigrant workers, and generally paying those they do hire a very low wage compared to what they should be getting paid for the work that they are doing.
At the end of the day, whether this is a good change or a bad change will depend on who you are and how this VISA currently affects your life in general. If you have been looking for some low-skilled entry level work in America but have been unable to find anything, this might be good news for you should it pass. If you are an immigrant simply looking for any way to get into the United States in order to begin a better life for yourself, this might not sit well with you. All anyone can do at this point is to sit and wait to determine how it will impact everyone when it is all said and done.
