Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric often focused on a border wall, but major immigration changes could be on the horizon for businesses under the new administration as well, including a higher prevailing wage for H-1B visas, workplace raids and changes to visas under NAFTA, according to attorneys.
With Trump’s inauguration roughly a month away, lawmakers are already grappling with what will happen to young, undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers,” and discussions are swirling over whether Trump’s much-hyped border wall will actually include fencing.
But what changes are likely to hit companies that employ foreign workers? Attorneys told Law360 that among the expected changes, companies would be wise to brace for alteration of high-skill visa programs and visas provided under the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has pledged to renegotiate or exit.
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“There's been a lot of talk of having a mechanism built into the H-1B program that provides some level of assurance that there are no qualified U.S. workers [for the job],” MacDonald said. “And that could be done by implementing [an] advertising requirement that tests the U.S. job market to ensure there's no willing, qualified U.S. workers, and increasing the prevailing wage level that must be used whenever an employer sponsors an H-1B on behalf of a candidate.”
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“That's been coming for years and years and years, and I think under this administration we will actually see mandatory E-Verify become reality,” Reiff said. “And I think that this something that we are talking extensively about with our clients, and even more so since the election."
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