Immigration Plan Seeks to Balance Business, U.S. Workers’ Needs

Businesses shouldn’t be concerned that President Donald Trump‘s merit-based immigration plan will eviscerate their control over the ability to select top talent from around the world, acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli said Nov. 4.

The number of employment-based visas awarded each year currently trail behind those awarded for humanitarian and family-based reasons, Cuccinelli said at the Society for Human Resource Management’s Global Mobility and Immigration Symposium. Changing that is “something that the president is looking forward to,” he said.

Under the current system, employers file petitions to sponsor foreign workers for employment-based visas. Points-based “merit” ...