Q: It is no secret that Trump and Biden have starkly different views on immigration laws and policies. Now that President Biden is in charge, how have things changed? What impact has there been on employers and their employees in the U.S. under employer-sponsored visas?

A: There are several key changes for employers to note:

Revocation of Trump’s “Buy American Hire American” (BAHA) Executive Order

Since former President Trump signed the BAHA executive order on April 18, 2017, it became the backbone of many of the immigration-related policies passed during his time in the Oval Office, including: (1) rescission of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS)’s deference policy that made it less burdensome to obtain approvals on extension filings that were previously reviewed and approved; (2) issuance of an H-1B Third-Party Worksite Memorandum, which heightened the scrutiny on IT consultants and other similar consulting professionals who had to be stationed at the customer’s worksite; and (3) increased enforcement efforts related to H-1B and L-1 employer site visits. This also led to an increase in the number of “requests for evidence” issued by USCIS, which, in turn, led to an increase in denials overall.
Continue Reading Changes to the Immigration Landscape in the First 100 Days of the Biden Administration