Foreign tech workers on visas warned to return to US before Trump takes office: ‘Storm is coming’

Immigration lawyers are telling their clients who work in tech and are in the US on visas to return to the country before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in a month, according to a report.

“A storm is coming,” Jason Finkelman, an immigration lawyer based in Austin, Texas, told Business Insider, adding: “And this time, we know exactly what it’s going to bring.”

A second Trump administration is expected to include several executive orders that limit access to several types of work visas, particularly those that are common in tech.

Trump has also vowed to reinstate his ban on people entering the country from Muslim-majority countries.

“I think its possible that Trump may attempt to impose travel bans from certain countries just as he did when he initially tried to implement travel restrictions,” Finkelman told Business Insider.

“While I think travel bans will likely face challenges in the courts it may lead to issues of US employers being restricted from hiring and retaining the foreign talent they need for their operations.”

Sophie Alcorn, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based immigration lawyer, told Business Insider that she is strongly urging clients who are traveling overseas to expedite their return stateside in anticipation of a possible travel ban.

Justin Parsons, a partner at an Arlington, Va.-based immigration law firm, wondered whether Trump’s new travel ban could include China.

“The wildcard for me is what happens to China,” Parsons told Business Insider.

Trump has already pledged to hike tariffs on imports from China.

Tech observers are waiting to see what Trump will do with the H-1B visa, which allows companies to hire immigrants for specialty roles that require a certain set of skills.

H-1B visas were created in 1990 for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher in fields where jobs are deemed hard to fill, especially science, technology, engineering and math.

Critics say they allow companies to pay lower wages with fewer labor protections.

During Trump’s first term, the number of applications for H-1B visas that were denied by the federal government surged.

Right after taking office in 2017, he issued his “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, directing Cabinet members to suggest reforms to ensure that business visas were only awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers.

He has previously said the H1-B program commonly used by companies to hire foreign workers temporarily — a program he has used in the past — was “very bad” and used by tech companies to get foreign workers for lower pay.

The Post has sought comment from the Trump transition.

With Post Wires