Business and the Workforce

What role do immigrants play in American business and the American workforce? Immigrants work in a range of skilled positions in the U.S. and start businesses that boost the American economy. Learn more about immigrant entrepreneurship and workforce participation.

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  • Blog

Why The Government’s Wage Data is Inadequate in Determining Fair Wages for U.S. and Foreign Workers

December 14, 2017

U.S. employers looking to hire foreign workers must often meet a number of preconditions. Those employers who want to hire workers through the H-1B temporary visa category (for “specialty...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Their Children Founded More Than Two-Fifths of All Fortune 500 Companies

December 7, 2017

The modern U.S. economy owes much of its success to the contributions of immigrants and their children. Among these contributions, it would be difficult to overstate the value of entrepreneurship...

  • Blog

Judge Rules That Foreign Entrepreneurs Can Come to the United States to Grow Their Businesses

December 1, 2017

Foreign entrepreneurs who want to build innovative companies in the United States received good news on Friday, when federal judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of a...

  • Blog

How Immigrants Helped Boost American Jobs in the Midwest

November 7, 2017

At a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies seem to be growing, immigrants in the United States continue to do what they have done for over a century—bring unique and vital experiences to...

  • Blog

New USCIS Policy Creates Obstacles for Employers and Foreign Workers

October 26, 2017

In a major reversal of longstanding policy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has created new and unnecessary hurdles for employers and foreign employees temporarily working in the...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Refugees Are Among America’s 2017 Nobel Prize Winners

October 19, 2017

The Nobel Prizes, awarded annually in recognition of extraordinary achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, have once again been won by Americans who came...

  • Blog

Attacks on Exchange Visitor Program Hurts American Businesses

October 16, 2017

Among the laundry list of proposed restrictions and other attacks on immigration, the Trump administration is reportedly considering cuts to the Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) and therefore...

  • Blog

Foreign Entrepreneurs Would Have Benefited From This Rule—The Trump Administration Wants to Rescind It, So We Sued

September 19, 2017

The Trump administration has repeatedly promised to create jobs in the United States, and yet it has delayed a policy that would have fostered the growth of innovative companies and guaranteed...

  • Blog

USCIS Adds Extra Hurdles for Legally Residing Immigrants

August 29, 2017

The Trump administration continued its attack on legal immigration this month, announcing that it will start requiring additional in-person interviews for tens of thousands of individuals who have...

  • Blog

Farmers Struggle to Find Labor, Threatening Americans’ Food Supply and Prices

August 14, 2017

America’s farmers have been acutely aware of the consequences of restrictive immigration policies for some time. When migration levels drop or restrictive policies drive migrants out of the state...

  • Blog

Immigrant IT Workers Play Critical Role in the Coronavirus Pandemic’s Virtual Economy 

June 8, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has radically altered the U.S. workforce. Many people have lost their jobs, while others have had to continue to go to work despite the serious health risks. Some sectors...

  • Blog

Presidential Proclamation Bars Certain Students and Researchers From China

June 1, 2020

President Trump issued a proclamation to prevent certain Chinese nationals from entering the United States using academic student (F) or exchange visitor researcher (J) visas. The proclamation...

  • Blog

Asian Americans Play Key Role in Fighting Coronavirus, Even as They Suffer Racism Spurred by It

May 29, 2020

May 31 closes out Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The...

  • Blog

Exchange Visitor Program Faces Uncertainty as US Opens but Embassies Remain Closed

May 20, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has affected day-to-day life for everyone, including foreign nationals who planned to participate in the U.S. Department of State’s Exchange Visitor Program. These...

  • Blog

Essential Workers Are at the Heart of a Diversifying Working-Class America

May 15, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of essential workers in keeping America up and running. First-responders, medical staff, meat packers, and domestic, hospitality, and...

  • Blog

Government Takes Surprising Position to Preserve H-4 Work Permits – For Now

May 13, 2020

A long-running lawsuit over a rule allowing certain spouses of highly educated H-1B workers to work in the United States took an interesting twist. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS),...

  • Blog

As Coronavirus Fatalities Rise, Trump Sends Immigrant Meatpackers Back to Work

May 1, 2020

The coronavirus presents a clear and immediate danger to America’s food supply. Meatpacking plants in particular have taken a huge hit. To mitigate the loss of production, President Trump signed...

  • Blog

USCIS Consistently Denies H-1B Petitions. This Lawsuit Argues It’s Misinterpreting the Law.

April 17, 2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been denying many H-1B petitions by misinterpreting the law. On April 16, 2020, the American Immigration Council and partners filed a...

  • Blog

Coronavirus Travel Restrictions Leave Some J-1 Exchange Visitors Stranded

April 16, 2020

Individuals participating in the J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program were faced with a difficult choice in the hours after President Trump issued travel restrictions to Europe: leave their program...

  • Press Release

Class Action Lawsuit Seeks to Challenge USCIS’ Unlawful Denial of H-1B Petitions Filed by American Businesses

April 16, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the law firms Van Der Hout, LLP, Joseph & Hall P.C., and Kuck Baxter Immigration LLC filed a nationwide class action lawsuit today challenging U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ pattern and practice of arbitrarily denying H-1B nonimmigrant employment-based petitions for market research analysts positions filed by businesses in the United States.

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