r/WhatTrumpHasDone • u/wenchette • 1d ago

H-1B Holders’ Spouses Would Lose Work Permits in New Trump Plan

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/h-1b-holders-spouses-would-lose-work-permits-in-new-trump-plan
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u/wenchette 1d ago

Full article text:

The Trump administration is planning a rule to nix employment authorization eligibility for spouses of H-1B workers.

A notice of the proposed rulemaking (RIN: 1615-AD14) was added to a long-term regulatory agenda for the Department of Homeland Security, although it did not identify a target date for its release.

The planned rule is the latest in a barrage of Trump administration measures restricting H-1B employment. DHS in the last week proposed a new $103,265 fee for new hires through the program and the White House cleared another proposal to eliminate a discretionary 60-day grace period for workers to find new sponsorship after a job loss.

The agency now aims to reverse a 2015 rule that extended employment authorization to H-4 visa holders, which include family members of workers on temporary visas. Those visa holders are typically highly-educated professionals themselves and can only seek work permits when their spouses complete the initial steps toward permanent status.

Business groups have argued that removing work eligibility for spouses of H-1B workers would harm recruitment and retention of key foreign talent.

A long-running legal battle over the lawfulness of H-4 spouses’ employment authorization ended last year when the US Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge from opponents of the program. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit previously found Congress had granted authority to the executive branch to extend work authorization.