Episode 49: Business support for DACA, H-2B visas, AI and immigration

It’s Nov. 9, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.

• The business community shows support for Dreamers.
• The Biden administration announces additional H-2B visas.
• More on the role immigration could play in the development of AI in the United States.

“The pathway to secure immigration status in the United States can be so long and bumpy, so anything we can do to prove the process is critical and will really go a long way in helping us remain competitive.”

—Michelle Funk, BAL Partner

U.S. news

DACA action urged

Sixty companies and trade associations, including BAL, urged Congress to enact a bipartisan permanent legislative solution for Dreamers. The letter to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate advocated for the Dreamers’ contributions to the economy as workers, consumers and taxpayers.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program has protected and provided work authorization to hundreds of thousands of Dreamers since its inception. The program faces uncertainty after a federal judge’s ruling in September. Under the court order, existing DACA beneficiaries can continue to renew their status and employment authorization documents, but first-time requests cannot be approved.

Additional H-2B visa allocation

The Biden administration has announced plans to issue nearly 65,000 additional H-2B visas this fiscal year. Twenty thousand will be reserved for workers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras. The remainder will be available to workers who have held H-2B status in one of the last three fiscal years.

The H-2B program permits employers to temporarily hire noncitizens to perform nonagricultural work in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security said the additional visas would help address the need for seasonal workers and reduce a regular immigration.

U.S. news roundup

• The Department of Labor published updated PERM and prevailing wage determination processing times.
• The Department of Homeland Security announced the countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visa programs in the upcoming year.
• S. passport wait times continue to improve, but delays should be expected as the holidays approach.

Spotlight

Conversation with Michelle Funk, BAL partner: the Biden administration’s plan to support the development of artificial intelligence through immigration.

BAL Immigration Report: Last week, President Biden signed an executive order crafted to ensure that America leads the way in seizing the promise and managing the risks of AI. The executive order sets new standards for AI safety and security. It also includes a call for streamlined immigration systems to ensure that the U.S. is attracting top international talent in AI and other critical and emerging technologies. BAL Partner Michelle Funk joined us to provide her analysis.

Funk: It’s an exciting development to see that the administration has specifically called out immigration measures as a key component of its policy in this area. This executive order continues a line of actions that the administration has taken to retain and attract talent in emerging fields. This particular executive order is aimed at establishing standards for the safe and secure development and use of AI. We know that there’s a lot of potential in that area, but there’s also a lot of risk. The executive order seeks to harness the innovations so we remain competitive while creating safeguards for its use.

A key component in the remaining competitive part, though, is the ability to attract and retain high-skilled immigration in the fields of AI and other critical and emerging technologies where immigration, of course, has long played a key role. It is really exciting to see that, as the administration focuses on the use of these emerging technologies, they realize that high-skilled immigration goes hand in hand with that initiative.

BAL: The executive order includes a host of immigration initiatives, including measures to modernize immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs and streamline application processes.

Funk: There are a number of proposed initiatives in the immigration space that are beneficial to our field and are actually pretty exciting. Overall big picture, the Department of Homeland Security is instructed to review and initiate any policy changes that would improve both the temporary and permanent immigration pathways for those individuals who are experts in AI and other critical and emerging technologies. Specifically though, the executive order calls for measures that would both attract and support individuals who are working, studying and conducting research in those fields. They’re trying to streamline and improve a number of the processes. The most exciting for me are the EB-1 and EB-2 paths toward permanent residence, so that would include individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and a new fan favorite, the national interest waiver. Our firm has been doing a lot of work recently in the national interest waiver area, and seeing that dovetail with the administration’s callout that this work is important will go a long way toward just making the process more accessible to high-skilled immigrants.

The executive order looks at also continuing regulatory efforts to modernize the H-1B program, which I think is something that we’ve all been looking forward to, and also facilitating the availability of visa appointments for applicants. That’s something that’s been a pain point for the last several years, and so anything we can do to make the process a little bit easier and more accessible is very welcome. There’s also a really interesting recommendation for the Department of Labor to take steps to update their programs to include better avenues for AI and other STEM-related occupations. Overall, I’ll take anything that eases the timelines or roadblocks that we currently experience, but I think that any of these efforts would go a long way in attracting the skills that we need to remain competitive.

BAL: Work on some of the measures — for example, the effort to modernize the H-1B program — is already underway. Others would require government agencies to initiate rulemaking, which can be a lengthy process. Funk says there are consequences if the immigration system cannot attract and retain the high-skilled workers the economy needs.

Funk: Whenever we miss an opportunity to attract and retain that talent, we see that we just lose that talent. Obviously, that’s not going to help us go in the direction that we want to go. So I think that it’s really encouraging to see that the administration is identifying clear steps agencies can take just to continue to attract and support individuals and emerging technologies. The pathway to secure immigration status in the United States can be so long and bumpy, so anything we can do to improve the process is critical and will really go a long way in helping us remain competitive.

Global news

Canada announced immigration targets

The Canadian government has announced its projected immigration targets for the next three years. Authorities plan to admit 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 new permanent residents per year in 2025 and 2026. Economic migration programs will cover about half of these numbers, with the greatest allotments going to federal high-skilled worker and provincial nominee programs. Family-based immigration, refugees and humanitarian cases will account for the rest of each year’s allotment.

Australia expands temporary skill shortage pathway

The Australian government will soon expand the permanent residence pathway for certain temporary skill shortage visa holders. Effective Nov. 25, subclass 482 visa holders will be eligible for permanent residence through the employer nomination scheme’s temporary residence transition stream.

Additionally, the period of time to qualify for the permanent residence visa will be reduced to two years. Previously, three years of sponsored employment were required. Australian authorities said that changes are part of efforts to make permanent residency more accessible to all temporary skill shortage visa holders.

Global news roundup

• Malaysian authorities announced they would resume the issuance of i-KAD identity cards to Employment Pass holders.
• Swiss officials announced they would extend protected status for Ukrainians.
• In Italy, authorities published updated rules on the issuance of EU blue cards.

Follow us on X, and sign up for daily immigration updates. We’ll be back next week with more news from the world of corporate immigration.