RantCrush Top 5: April 18, 2017

Today, President Donald Trump will go to Wisconsin and sign an executive order entitled “Buy American, Hire American,” that will change the rules for hiring foreign skilled workers. According to the administration, this will prevent immigration fraud and abuse. The new changes would require the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and State to only give out H-1B visas to the “most-skilled or highest-paid applicants,” as the White House believes the current rules are undercutting American workers by hiring foreigners and driving down wages.

“Buy American, Hire American” – Trump to order reform of visa programme for high-skilled workers https://t.co/8InTS4CviZ pic.twitter.com/n2z6QdeLpK

— Al Jazeera News (@AJENews) April 18, 2017

The new rules would also make sure that only American products are used in some federal construction and transportation projects. Trump originally said that he liked the high-skilled visas, then flipped, saying that it’s time to get rid of them.

However, the tech industry and Silicon Valley have long argued that these visas are needed so the U.S. can keep up with international competition, as there are not enough people with high-tech skills in the U.S. to fill all the open positions.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.