Universities will suffer much more than industry from president Donald Trump’s radical change to H-1B visa processes, a local expert predicts.
A Sept. 19 executive order from Trump requires a $100,000 payment on new petitions submitted for H-1B visas, which let skilled foreign workers take jobs in the United States for up to six years. It was enacted almost immediately. Top sponsors in the area include biotechnology companies including Akamai, Moderna, Biogen, Takeda, as well as area academic institutions such as Harvard and MIT.
This year alone, 285 employers in Somerville and Cambridge sponsored almost 2,000 beneficiaries of the worker visas, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Approvals have been capped at 65,000 a year, with a lottery for when the number exceeded the cap, and an additional 20,000 applicants reserved for those with advanced American degrees, according to Pew Research.
Universities and colleges were exempt from the quotas.
The visas were an incentive for international students to study in American universities and colleges, said Nishith Prakash, a professor of public policy and economics at Northeastern University. Prakash, who held a H-1B visa himself, immigrated from his hometown Bihar, India, to the United States.
“People do come for this lottery,” Prakash said. “And if you win this lottery, you’re all set, right? Because you get a job, and you can pay off whatever the money you took [to pay for higher education].”
Without a chance to remain in the United States and work, international students would face large debts and no payoff – which is why universities may see a dip in enrollment. “It’s going to hit the revenue of universities,” Prakash said. “It’s going to be quite devastating for academia.”
Except in the cases of institutions and corporations with deep pockets – and even Harvard and MIT are facing sudden and significant funding challenges from other Trump cuts and policies – Prakash predicts H-1B sponsorship to fall. “Nobody’s going to pay that,” Prakash said, referring to the $100,000 add-on.
In academia, Prakash said, that could mean fewer tenure-track professors and an increase in adjuncts – educators that universities hire by the class without full-time salaries or benefits.
The fee may impose unintended consequences outside academia too. “At the end of the day, companies care about maximizing profit,” Prakash said. Instead of hiring U.S. workers, they could move their businesses elsewhere depending on which is more cost friendly. “You have an intention, but many times, intended policies do not necessarily work exactly how you intended,” Prakash said.
The director of Public Relations at Akamai, Chris Nicholson, said the company was “continuing to seek clarity and guidance from the administration” about the visa fees and was in “constant communication” with employees. A Takeda spokesperson wrote that the company would “assess each employment situation and the need for H-1B visa applications individually” in the United States, including in Cambridge, to “help ensure we are employing the best candidates.” Takeda is the main tenant in a 16-story, 630,000-square-foot building called 585 Kendall under construction in Cambridge for opening next year.
Moderna and Biogen did not respond to inquiries about the ruling.
The current ruling does not apply to previously issued H-1B visas and renewals, including those submitted before the deadline or workers who are traveling. Initial ambiguity about the proclamation, interpreting currently valid H-1B visas as also requiring a lump-sum payment, spurred Cambridge and Somerville companies and universities to scramble to advise international employees against travel outside the United States and, for those already abroad, to return by the evening of Sept. 20 before Trump’s 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Sept. 21 deadline.
The White House, in justifying the new fee, said the worker visas had resulted “in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens, while at the same time making it more difficult to attract and retain the highest skilled subset of temporary workers.”
Considering the cap of annual approvals that the White House cited as hurting U.S. workers, Prakash expressed skepticism over the policy. “In the grand scheme of things, 65,000 jobs is almost nothing. It’s peanuts. Are the 65,000 jobs going to be replaced by 65,000 domestic workers?” Prakash said. “Is that good? I guess, but it’s still a small number.”
This ruling is one of many pieces of legislation marking a growing negative climate for immigrants in the United States, the effects of which may be felt in Cambridge and Somerville universities and companies and then in their financial relationships with the host cities. “I have six, eight friends who I’m very close to, all from the same school in India,” Prakash said. “We all came here because of this openness … I do feel that’s important to attract the best of the best.”
A stronger
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The headline should be re-written. These wounds are very intended. It’s all a concerted effort. From direct attacks on learning, to attacks on international communities, to attacks from “traditional” media questioning the value of higher education.
Pretty sure this consequence for higher ed was entirely intended.