Tech firms may soon need to find new recruiting ground to the fill high-paying positions that President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to make a core part of his plan to create more jobs and put “America first.” Trump is reportedly considering a draft proposal to overhaul the current work visa program that Silicon Valley uses to bring tens of thousands of temporary workers into the U.S. from other countries each year.
“Our country’s immigration policies should be designed and implemented to serve, first and foremost, the U.S. national interest. Visa programs for foreign workers … should be administered in a manner that protects the civil rights of American workers and current lawful residents, and that prioritizes the protection of American workers — our forgotten working people — and the jobs they hold,” a draft of the proposal reads.
Details of the proposal, first reported by Bloomberg News late Sunday, come as much of Silicon Valley still reels from Trump’s recent immigration orders, which prompted public backlash from dozens of tech leaders over the weekend and protests around the country. But while strongly-worded statements from executives addressed how a ban on immigrants and refugees from predominantly Muslim countries undercuts Silicon Valley’s values, changes to the current work-visa program figure to have a more direct effect on tech firms. Requests for comment to companies that have utilized the program were not immediately returned Monday.