Trump visa freeze ‘really puts a hurt’ on some Charlotte companies, experts say
An executive order by President Donald Trump that blocks foreign workers from coming to the U.S on certain visas could hurt companies in Charlotte that rely on those workers to fill jobs, immigration experts say.
Charlotte is a hub for H-1B visa holders, a category which applies to highly skilled workers. The order, issued June 22, suspends new H-1B visas until at least December.
Trump stated that the purpose of his order was to protect jobs of American workers while the country is facing high unemployment rates during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In Charlotte, the most common jobs with these positions are computer programmers, systems analysts and software developers, according to an Observer review of federal data.
Trump’s order primarily affects people who had been waiting to get a visa approved before COVID-19 shutdowns began in March, said Cynthia Aziz, an immigration attorney at Aziz Law Firm in Charlotte.
“What that’s doing to an employer who had forecasted that person to be on site... is affecting their production ability,” Aziz said. “They were designated to do the job because they didn’t have somebody else to do it. It wasn’t like they had a U.S. worker in line to do that specific job.”
Economic impact
While Trump says he wanted to save American jobs, the policy is unlikely to recover jobs lost to COVID-19, according to Paul Gaggl, an associate professor of economics at UNC Charlotte.
H-1B visas cover highly skilled workers that employers cannot find domestically, Gaggl said in an email. And, he said, the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for ensuring that applicants do not displace U.S. workers.
Banks, hotels and highly specialized manufacturers that depend on IT workers struggle without H-1B employees, said George Miller, an immigration lawyer with Charlotte-based DozierMiller Law Group.
Because companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft employ a lot of H-1B workers, not as many come into a banking hub like the Charlotte market, according to Miller.
“So when those (visas) are suspended, it really puts a hurt on the businesses,” he said. “The truth is, we just don’t have enough American workers that are qualified for these positions that these businesses need.”
Research from New American Economy, a bipartisan research and immigration policy advocacy organization, found that the addition of H-1B workers helps the economy by creating new jobs.
The companies and technologies they create often result in more opportunities for U.S. workers, the study found. It said allowing H-1B workers to fill those specialized roles lets American employers continue to base operations in the U.S., which creates jobs at all levels.
Visas sought in Charlotte
The Charlotte region remains attractive to H-1B workers.
Before an H-1B visa request is granted, employers must submit labor condition applications to the U.S. Department of Labor, where they attest that the job they are trying to fill cannot be performed by an American worker, Gaggl said.
In 2016, Charlotte had nearly 14,000 H-1B visa positions certified by the Department of Labor that no American worker would lose a job because of the visa hire, according to federal data.
Some of the companies filling out the most labor condition applications for jobs in Charlotte last year were Bank of America, with 363 applications, and IT firms Cognizant Technology Solutions, Capgemini and Accenture, according to myvisajobs.com. It’s an employment website for foreign workers seeking opportunities in the United States.
After employers go through the U.S. Department of Labor, the visa application is then reviewed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before the foreign worker is interviewed and a visa is issued by the State Department.
From 2010-16, the Charlotte area had 4,400 H-1B visa applications approved, data from the Pew Research Center show. More than half of those approvals were for workers with an advanced degree. Elsewhere in the state, the tech hub in the Triangle region had 15,700 visa approvals.
Diversity ‘a true strength’
There has always been a need for specialized skills in information technology, said Shifad Wahid, a Charlotte-based managing director of technology for insurance company AIG.
In Charlotte, that void is offset by immigrants who come on work visas, he said.
“We are a company that brings all sorts of people because we believe diversity is a true strength,” Wahid said. AIG submitted 57 Labor Condition Applications for Charlotte last year, according to myvisajobs.com.
Wahid immigrated to the U.S. from India in 2006 and became a citizen in 2018.
He said he thinks the U.S. immigration system does need reform. But to approach it by halting H-1Bs creates ambiguity for immigrants who are contributing to the economy and hurts companies that are already struggling due to COVID-19, he said.
To Aziz, stopping new H-1B visas is the equivalent of taking away a promise from foreign workers who met the requirements for the visa that they could be a part of American society.
“To pull that out from under them without any recourse, (it) just shows that we’re not honorable people,” she said. “And that’s a danger to our society.”
‘The jury’s still out’
But some business leaders in Charlotte say the effects of the order are still uncertain.
Michelle Fish is CEO of Integra Staffing, an executive search and staffing firm specializing in healthcare, manufacturing and engineering in Charlotte.
Fish said Trump’s order could allow more U.S. workers to develop the talents sought in H-1B workers.
“We’re going to see companies that overlooked them pick them up,” she said, “and they may find some really good raw talent that they just overlooked because a resume of an H-1B looks better.”
Fish said most companies she has worked with try to use talent within the U.S. first, and hire H-1B workers if they can’t find what they’re looking for.
The real test will be whether companies will be able to hire U.S. residents with the same expertise as an H-1B worker they may have hired, Fish said. “The jury’s still out on that,” she said.
Uncertainty for immigrants
Many H-1B workers in Charlotte come from India, Aziz said, and often work at financial companies.
Over 70% of the 388,403 H-1B visas approved for new or extended work in the U.S. last year were for someone born in India, according to federal data. Another 13% went to workers born in China.
Nimish Bhatt has worked with the Carolinas Asian Chamber of Commerce since 1998, and is vice chair of the chamber’s board of directors.
Bhatt, who came to the U.S. from India in 1993, said immigrants on H-1B visas often leave behind family, businesses and a sense of stability.
He said Trump’s order has added to the uncertainty of a U.S. visa process that is already difficult.
“We sacrifice our bearings, our relatives, our roots in Asian countries, and we come here to support the economy,” Bhatt said. “And that sacrifice should not be lost in this.”
Trump’s order also has created fear among current H-1B workers in Charlotte, Bhatt said. They’re worried about their jobs, which allow them to support their families.
While the executive order only affects employment-based visas, Miller, the immigration lawyer, said he’s gotten calls from many clients who are anxious about their immigrant status and apprehensive about their future.
“I’ve got phones ringing off the hook with people scared to death,” he said. “It creates a lot of fear, not just in the employees, but in the businesses themselves. They’re wondering what’s going to happen to their employees.”
