Cummins Inc. has joined several major U.S. companies and industry groups in speaking out against the Trump administration’s decision to bar many categories of foreign workers and freeze immigration visas through the end of the year.
The measure announced by the Trump administration on Monday extends an earlier ban on green cards issued outside the United States until the end of the year and adds many temporary work visas to the freeze, including those used heavily by companies to hire highly-skilled workers from abroad.
The freeze will apply to H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, H4 visas for their spouses, L-1 visas companies use to transfer international employees to the United States, H-2B visas for seasonal workers and J-1 visas for cultural exchanges, according to the Associated Press.
The order, however, excludes agricultural laborers, healthcare professionals supporting the pandemic response and food service employees, as well as some other temporary workers.
“We are disappointed by the Trump administration’s intention to suspend and limit several temporary visas until the end of 2020, including H-1B, H-4 and L-1 visas,” said company spokesman Jon Mills. “To recruit and retain the best global talent we need fair and flexible immigration laws. If U.S. companies are not able to keep top talent that has been developed at top U.S. universities, our global competitors have a distinct advantage.”
The move by the Trump administration has been met with criticism from several U.S. companies, including Apple, Amazon, Tesla and Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
