The Republican candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trumprepeatedly emphasizes that it will adopt strict measures against immigrants in actions at the borders and that he intends to carry out mass deportations – and everything suggests that his focus is on immigrants illegal. But the truth is that Trump’s first term, between 2017 and 2020, had more impact on the lives of immigrants living legally us United States.
A study of the Cato Institutean organization that researches public policies, reveals that During the four years that Trump assumed the White House, legal immigration in the country plummeted by 63%. During the period, there was a drop of around 410 thousand emissions of green cards and the number of temporary visas was reduced by almost 12 million.
At the time, qualified foreign professionals who were waiting for work visas to work at the invitation of American companies were also affected. Trump also tried to increase the price of applying for citizenship (currently US$710), in addition to making the questionnaire required of candidates more difficult and extensive. In both cases, it was unsuccessful.
O immigration issue caught fire this week in the United Statesafter comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made negative comments about the Latino community in general at a Trump rally in New York and even said that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean.” Puerto Rico is an American territory and the less than honorable mention led to a reaction from immigrants and descendants. President Joe Biden countered, suggesting that Trump’s supporters were trash – the speech went down badly and he retracted hours later.
How politics affects Brazilians
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that around 2 million Brazilians currently live in the United Statesspread across several states. “If Trump is elected, we will return to the ‘no climate’”, says immigration lawyer Sara Levin, head of Levin Santalone LLP.
“In the case of Brazilians, three situations are worrying”, warns Sara. “THE first is the instability in approvals of work and tourist visas. In a government that is unfavorable to non-citizens, the chances of approval or rejection of a visa are more vulnerable to the discretion of the official responsible for each case”, he explains.
A second The issue, according to the lawyer, is the change of teams linked to the State Department, the government sector responsible for jobs at embassies. Under Trump, the departure of senior agents delayed visa issuances. And in third Firstly, Sara fears the increase in racism in the country, a problem that could affect Brazilians.
The lawyer says that the student visas used by Brazilian university students may not be greatly affected, but it would be necessary to pay attention to the possibility of a new Trump administration changing the visa Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows foreign university students to work for one to three years in the US after graduation. Changes to the OPT even appeared in a bill during the years he was president, between 2017 and 2020.
Professional visas
During Trump’s term, specialized and highly skilled foreign professionals passed through bad times to obtain approval for visas such as the H1-B – which allows foreigners to work in a company in the United States. Each fiscal year, the US issues a quota of 65 mil H1-B and more 20 mil for professionals with specific diplomas. It’s a kind of lottery, opened annually in April.
In the last year, 470 mil professionals competed for the 85 mil H1-B visas. The employer needs to ensure that the immigrant’s salary is not lower than described in the job offer, that the position requires a specific university degree and that the candidate meets all academic requirements.
Upon assuming power, the government Trump tried decrease the annual quota for H1-B visas and increase the minimum wage to US$110,000, with the aim of intimidating contractors in their search for foreign labor. Despite the proposals not being implemented, the number of denied H1-B petitions soared from 6% in FY 2015 to 28% in FY 2018. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, 21% of petitions were rejected.
READ MORE: US visa record for elite Brazilian professionals shows new immigration profile
Furthermore, data indicate that, during the period, around 90% of L-1 category visas requested in India were denied. This category is granted to professionals transferred from abroad to the same company in the USA, known as expatriates.
“Professionals of Indian nationality, for example, were some of those most affected by that government. They are highly sought after by the technology sector as they have ideal degrees and experience for difficult-to-fill positions,” says Sara.
Two weeks after Trump’s inauguration in 2017, US officials Google organized a protest. Among them, the co-founder Sergei Brinan immigrant from the Soviet Union, and the then CEO Sundar Pichaiborn in India.
READ MORE: Green card: when can the ‘investor visa’ go wrong?
Kamala’s actions for immigration
The campaign for Kamala Harris does not have aggressive rhetoric towards immigrants, unlike his opponent. However, she has already made clear its intention to implement a stiffer posture at borders and on other fronts.
Although the Democratic candidate did not specify what she would change in relation to visas, she knows that she will have to tighten her belts: immigration (legal and illegal) has reached its peak in the last decades under the current president’s government. Joe Biden. The number of new immigrants tripled compared to that recorded under the Trump administration and doubled compared to the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations.
In the case of Brazilians, a study by the National Library of Medicine indicates that 71% of the 2 million who live in the United States are undocumented, that is, they are in the country illegally.
Impact of immigration
For David Leonhardt, journalist at New York Timesthe segment of the population that suffers most from the lack of control of mass immigration are American workers in low-income regions, who compete with immigrants with low education – the movement is responsible for reducing the salary standards and quality of life of residents. In many cases, local governments in these regions are forced to accommodate non-English speaking children in their schools and to provide social and medical services to a population larger than local capacity.
However, Leonhardt emphasizes that the politicians from both parties who make decisions in Washington are professionals with university degrees, far from the reality of these workers and even further from public opinion. It is low-income American workers who, for the most part, support the Trump administration when it comes to immigration.
The problem is also one of the sources of the growing racism taking over the country.
Actions against illegal immigration
For illegal immigrants – called undocumented immigrants – the Trump government proposes at least six relevant changes to current policy, starting with an increase in deportations annually, the target of which is surpass one million people per year.
Another measure is to hire more immigration and customs agents (known as ICE), allocating federal employees and the National Guard to control and even arrest immigrants. The agenda of proposals also includes the construction of camps for detained immigrants and who are awaiting their deportation proceedings. For this, Trump would allocate military funds. On the agenda, there is still the plan to sending Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the US to African countries and other regions.
The Republican candidate’s proposals include refugees. If elected in the November 5 vote, Trump intends overturn the refugee program and resurrect its measure banning visitors from the majority of Muslim countries from entering the country. Ultimately, Trump aims eliminate birthright citizenship for babies of undocumented parents. These children, consequently, would not be entitled to social security or a US passport.
In less than a week, we will know what the next chapter will be.
