Although the immigration agenda pursued by the Trump administration has made headlines with its call for a wall on the border between the US and Mexico, the increasing number of undocumented immigrants being arrested and barring travel from many overseas countries, some of its agenda has been implemented with considerably less attention.
Much less attention surrounded the slowing down of several methods of legal immigration without the need for even one US visa program to be rescinded by Congress. Closer scrutiny is being paid by officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to US visas issued to those wanting to come to the US for business purposes, and those who American firms have been recruiting. A greater number of such requests have been denied, immigration lawyers claim.
Foreigners who already live in the US have also encountered new obstacles when their employers seek to extend their stay in the country. The Trump administration has carried out a far-reaching aspect of the immigration agenda sought by the President, with little attention in the form of the reduction of the number of legal immigrants who come to the US as permanent residents or temporary workers every year.
In the first two months of the current fiscal year, 86 and 82 percent of applications for the H-1B US visa were approved. This was a fall from 93 and 92 percent from October and November 2016. Although most such applications are still approved, the rate of rejections is slowly increasing.