“Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs” Draft Executive Order Summary

President Donald Trump has issued several Executive Orders and Memos this week regarding immigration – below is our summary of the draft order regarding “Protecting American Jobs and Workers by Strengthening the Integrity of Foreign Worker Visa Programs”

Recognizes that:

• Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest.
• It is the policy of the Trump administration to implement the immigration laws, to the extent consistent with law, in a manner that prioritizes the national interest and protects, to the maximum degree possible, the jobs, wages, and well-being of U.S. workers.

Directs the DHS Secretary to:

• Review all regulations that allow foreign nationals to work in the United States and determine which of those regulations are not in the national interest and should be rescinded.
• Promulgate a regulation to clarify that parole may never be used to avoid immigration caps and programs authorized by Congress.
  • Immediately terminate existing parole policies that do not comport with the above principles.
  • Identify ways to expand the use of E-Verify within the bounds of existing law.
  • Promulgate a regulation to restore the integrity of employment-based nonimmigrant worker programs and better protect U.S. and foreign workers affected by those programs.
  • Consider ways to make H-1B allocation more efficient and ensure that beneficiaries of the program are the best and brightest rather than arbitrarily distributed by lottery.
  • Start performing site visits at places that employ L-1 nonimmigrant workers and then expand the site visit program to cover all employment-based visa programs within two years.
  • Establish a commission to analyze current immigration policies, and then provide recommendations on how to move towards a merit-based admissions system.
  • Improve monitoring of foreign students and reform practical training programs for foreign students to prevent the disadvantaging of U.S. students in the workforce.
  • Promulgate a regulation to clarify that aliens on tourist visas may not perform skilled or unskilled labor.
  • Submit to the President a list of options for ensuring the efficient processing of petitions for the H-2A nonimmigrant agricultural visa program.

Directs the DHS Secretary and Secretary of State to:

• Align with Congressional intent the manner in which the State Department and DHS determine when an immigrant visa is “immediately available.”
• Promulgate a regulation that would reform how aliens file for adjustment to lawful permanent residence.
• Promulgate a regulation that reforms the E-2 treaty investor visa category.

Directs the Secretary of State to:

• Reform the J-1 Summer Work Travel program to improve protections of U.S. workers and participating foreign workers.

Reports from the relevant agencies:

• A report investigating the extent of any injury to U.S. workers caused by the employment of foreign workers admitted under nonimmigrant visa programs.
• Two reports per year on the number of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued and the categories or bases for issuance of all such EADs.
• A report detailing the total number of foreign-born workers in the United States and then immediately restart work on regular benefit fraud assessments for all immigration benefits categories.
• A report each year on immigration patterns in the United States, including an estimate of the size of the foreign-born population in the United States.
• The U.S. Census Bureau should include questions to determine U.S. citizenship and immigration status during the decennial census.
• A detailed description of the effect of immigration on wages and employment of U.S. workers since FY 2000.

Full text of DRAFT Executive Order available here.