Silicon Valley anxiously awaits Biden to reverse Trumps immigration rules

Tech advocates in Washington are said to be eager to work with the new Biden administration and reverse several of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, especially those that had created barriers for highly skilled visa holders.

Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names have clashed with the Trump administration in court, continuing its executive orders restricting the immigration of foreign workers, and now prioritizing the removal of the president’s actions in 2021, The Hill.

The Trump administration announced new immigration rules last month designed to make it more difficult for skilled workers to acquire visas. The rules tighten the requirements for employers who hire workers on H-1B visas, which are reserved for skilled workers, especially in the tech arena.

TechNet, a group of executives from companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and more, had taken legal action to challenge the new rules. If this fails, they hope the rules will be repealed by President-elect Joe Biden.

“They indicated that they were going to be very different from the Trump administration on highly skilled immigration, immigration in general … Highly skilled immigration … has led to so much growth and technological superiority and competitiveness for the United States, said Linda Moore, CEO of TechNet.

Biden’s transition team declined to comment.

However, before Biden takes over the presidential office, Silicon Valley fears Trump may increasingly restrict worker visas in the final days of his administration, according to The Hill.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reportedly said on a recent appeal that the president was seeking to finalize a rule to make the standards around H-1B visas more stringent, separate from the rules announced last month.

The US Chamber of Commerce, which has also been active in prosecuting Trump’s visa orders, recently noted that Biden’s team had indicated it would reverse some of those policies.