Trump’s ‘Maximum Chaos’ in Immigration Leaves Employers Hanging

Employers are struggling to navigate an evolving patchwork of unpredictable Trump administration policies disrupting entry to the US from nearly 100 countries.

The latest hurdle erected by the administration earlier this month blocked green cards indefinitely for immigrants from 75 countries who were deemed risks of relying on government benefits. That action followed a revived travel ban from President Donald Trump’s first administration, a halt to the diversity visa green card lottery, and revocations of more than 100,000 visas over the past year. International students and foreign workers seeking to renew visas have also been hit with temporary freezes or delays, sidetracking jobs and college enrollment.

It’s the flip side of the administration’s mass deportation campaign that’s produced tumultuous scenes in US cities, turmoil for businesses, and a spike in deaths in government custody. The government has justified the recurring visa disruptions with needs to screen immigrants for national security or public charge risks.

Immigrants, their families, and employers have often been left with no opportunity to prepare for changes to key programs, leaving hiring and travel plans in disarray.

“It’s policy by maximum chaos, unfortunately,” said James Hollis, an immigration attorney and partner at McEntee Law Group.

The immigrant visa pause, first reported Fox News then confirmed by the State Department on social media hours before an official announcement, was a case in point. Businesses and attorneys were left in the dark on how broadly the ban applied and who may be exempted.

Green Card Disruptions

Most employment-based green cards are issued to immigrants already working in the US with H-1B status or another temporary nonimmigrant status. The green card pause announced Jan. 14 will affect a relatively low number of employment-based visas.

About 9,200 employment-based visas were issued to immigrant workers from countries subject to the pause in fiscal year 2024, led by Brazil and Colombia. That’s compared to more than 64,000 in the “family-preference” category and almost twice that number for immediate relatives of US citizens.

But each visa blocked by the new ban represents a worker who a company has invested time and resources into sponsoring or has demonstrated skills valuable enough that they don’t require a US sponsor, said Ingrid Perez, managing attorney at IBP Immigration Law. That could include registered nurses essential to meeting health-care labor shortages or scientists doing cutting edge research.

“Its changing the rules in the middle of the game for a demographic of very high-skilled foreign nationals whose dream was to come to the US,” Perez said.

It’s unclear exactly how long the latest visa freeze will last. Businesses that had counted on bringing over foreign workers will look at any other options—including temporary visas—to meet labor needs, said Laura Jurcevich, a business immigration attorney and partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP.

“Are there any alternatives for, maybe not necessarily this individual, but alternatives to fill employment gaps you’re already facing?” she said. “Those are things we are evaluating for everybody, including health care employers.”

Visa Slowdown Playbook

A State Department spokesperson said that President Trump had made clear immigrants must be financially self-sufficient to protect public benefits for US citizens.

The agency hasn’t said how long the visa pause will remain in effect. The spokesperson said it would take the time necessary “to conduct a full and thorough review.”

Immigrants can still submit visa applications and attend consular interviews, but won’t be issued any visas while the pause is in effect, according to a policy alert on the agency’s website. Dual nationals with a passport from a country not covered by the pause are exempted and temporary non-immigrant aren’t affected.

With the latest freeze, the State Department is following the same approach that caused massive delays for F-1 international students renewing visas last spring and, later, for H-1B workers who left the US before winter holidays with scheduled appointments for visa interviews. The agency cited new social media screening policies to stop interviews or push appointments months into next year.

“It’s any barrier that can be implemented in order for any immigration at all—legal immigration included—to be stopped,” Jurcevich said.

In the past, consulates have adopted new screening procedures or eligibility criteria without normal visa services grinding to a halt, attorneys and former department officials said.

A public charge determination has always been a possible ground for visa denial but using a change to the screening process to justify a blanket visa freeze reflects an “unprecedented” approach to the immigration system under Trump, Duden Freeman, a former consular officer and founder of Idelire Consulting. It’s also affected foreign workers and adopted children of US parents who would never have been deemed risks of public charges before, she added.

“When you throw out such a wide net, you end up impacting a huge number of people who should never have been included,” Freeman said.