Large Employers, Entrepreneurs Looking to Relocate From U.S, Says Obama-era Official

Large employers and startup entrepreneurs alike are looking to relocate from the United States to other countries that have welcoming immigration policies, according to immigration expert Doug Rand. Lack of employment opportunities in the United States would be detrimental for the American economy, says Rand, former assistant director for entrepreneurship in the Obama White House who helped implement the H-4 work authorization rule.

Rand is now the co-founder of Boundless, a technology company that helps families navigate the immigration process. The firm reviews documents of immigrants and delivers a professionally assembled application package that’s arranged in the precise format the government prefers.

The anti-immigrant stance has been the subject of a lot of debate since Donald Trump became the U.S. president. In a latest update, it was confirmed that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to end the H-4 employment authorization document (EAD). The H-4 EAD is given to spouses of H-1B visa holders who have been approved for a green card but are yet to get it.

The Obama-era rule gave jobs to over 100,000 people, mostly women from India. Ending the EAD will render them unemployed and that would be bad for the economy of the United States, Rand tells Little India.

“Immigrants make the average American richer. Somewhere between 70,000-100,000 H-4 spouses have already received work permits since 2015. If they are no longer able to apply for work permits, they will no longer be able to contribute their considerable skills to the U.S. economy. Moreover, fewer dual-earner couples with such skills will choose to stay in the U.S. or come here in the first place,” he elaborates.

While the recent letter written by USCIS director Francis Cissna confirms the government’s plan to end the program, all is not lost yet, Rand points out.

“In this letter, USCIS provides a detailed summary of its past and upcoming changes to the legal immigration system, but more or less all of this information has been disclosed before,” Rand says. “If USCIS sticks with its current timeline to publish a draft rule to eliminate H-4 EADs this June, it will still take several months to go through the mandatory public comment period and craft a final rule that takes effect.”

The administration has been pushing to end the H-4 EAD since it clashes with its Hire American agenda. However, according to Rand, there is no evidence of such displacement. “Indeed, many H-4 workers have used their new work permits to start new companies and directly employ numerous native-born U.S. workers,” he says.

However, there don’t appear to be many avenues to legally stop the administration’s decision. Only those with a “clear injury” can sue USCIS because of the change in policy.

“In general, plaintiffs with a clear injury can sue a federal agency once a final rule takes effect,” Rand says, adding, “Unfortunately, there is a very low likelihood of any meaningful immigration legislation passing through both chambers of this Congress and being signed by this president.”