If Donald Trump wins the upcoming election, a 2020 rule from his administration could dramatically impact future U.S. immigration policy.
In October 2020, Trump’s administration, through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), proposed a rule to significantly raise the required wages for H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigrants.
The aim was clear—to make hiring foreign workers more expensive and push them out of the U.S. job market. While the rule was blocked on legal grounds, it sent shockwaves through businesses that rely on foreign talent.
By forcing employers to pay H-1B visa holders far more than American workers, the policy would make hiring foreign talent prohibitively expensive for many companies, particularly smaller businesses.
This could effectively dissuade businesses from sponsoring H-1B workers altogether, drastically reducing the number of applications and undermining the program.
Salary hikes on this scale could end the H-1B visa’s effectiveness, limiting opportunities for skilled immigrants to work in the U.S.
Immigration attorneys criticized the rule, arguing that the DOL had manipulated wage formulas to artificially inflate the required salaries for foreign workers.
This resulted in sharp wage increases, making it even more difficult for companies to hire H-1B workers or sponsor foreign nationals for permanent residency.
In December 2020, a federal judge struck down the rule, citing procedural errors by the Trump administration. However, Trump made one last attempt to reinstate it before leaving office, still pushing to price foreign workers out of the U.S. job market.
The Joe Biden administration did not oppose the rule’s removal and delayed its implementation until November 2022. As of June 2023, the DOL has placed the rule on hold, indicating that it may not proceed further with the proposal.
