Startups in US urge Trump not to manipulate H1B visa norms

Posted on February 9, 2017

Over a hundred startups in the US have urged President, Donald Trump, not to issue any executive orders against H1B visas, stating that such a move would cause “irreversible damage” to the American startup ecosystem and would affect America’s ability to compete globally. Read more on Donald Trump

“While we recognize the importance of promoting national security and protecting the interests of American workers, we strongly believe the existing and proposed executive orders will not accomplish these goals and in fact, could undermine our ability to found and grow new companies that create jobs here in the US”, they said in an open letter to Trump.

Startups in America are concerned about Trump’s recent executive order to put an immigration ban on Muslims from seven Muslim – majority nations as well as the recently – leaked draft executive order to roll back H1B visas.

The startups said, “We believe these actions are both morally and economically misguided and will inflict irreversible harm on the startup community and America’s ability to compete globally”.

The immigration ban imposed on Muslims by Trump by means of an executive order has been put on hold by a federal court in Seattle. The Trump administration has challenged this stay. The startups in the US expressed concern that cancelling H1B visas to foreign nationals would hurt startups and established firms in the US, who rely on foreign talent to grow.

“The order calls for the evaluation and rolling back of various worker visa and parole programs and is based on the concerning and misguided presumption that visa programs are harmful to American workers and the broader economy. In reality, it is well – established that immigrant workers at all skill levels make a positive impact on the US economy. For every 100 immigrants with advanced degrees (Engineering and Science degrees) who come into the US, 86 jobs are created for the local citizens”, the startups in the US said.

“Consequently, by limiting job opportunities for immigrants, your administration faces the possibility of reducing jobs for American citizens, in addition to suppressing growth in the startup economy”, the letter addressed to Donald Trump read.

The letter also said that immigrant entrepreneurs have contributed immensely to the success of American economy.

“We believe that the government should make it easier, rather than more difficult, for the world’s brightest and best to start and grow their companies here. Encouraging innovators from around the world to launch businesses here is one of the best ways to create jobs in the US”, the startups in the US said.

There are many immigrants in the US who have occupied the top technical posts in the top technical companies in the US (like Sundar Pichai of Google and Satya Nadella of Microsoft). Banning immigrants from entering into America would negatively affect the productivity of many top technical companies in the US. Thereby leading to job losses and inflation. Only those immigrants who are linked to terrorists and who pose an actual threat to America should be tracked down and punished. Taking a generic move like banning immigrants belonging to a particular religion does not make any sense. We are inclined to agree with the startups in the US that immigrants have contributed positively to the American economy and that allowing immigrants to start and grow their business in the US is the best way to generate employment opportunities for the local citizens of the US. I, like many of you, sincerely hope that Donald Trump takes corrective action soon and that he doesn’t actually do the blunder of rolling back H1B visas which would cause irreparable damage to the American economy and American startup ecosystem. Read more on Startup News