In the days following a Trump administration announcement declaring most green card applicants would have to return to their countries of origin, America’s business leaders – including from the tech and artificial intelligence industries – privately warned the White House and other Trump officials that the policy would harm their workforces.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidelines announced on May 22 instruct foreign visitors to apply for a permanent status in their home countries “except in extraordinary circumstances.” But the guidelines offered few details about who would be targeted, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of people.
In the ensuing days, multiple private discussions over the phone and email took place among prominent businesses, industry groups and CEOs with the White House and the departments of Homeland Security, Labor and State, according to three people familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relay private conversations. The quiet but extensive lobbying effort has not been previously reported.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was among industry groups that pressed administration officials for further guidance and warned of the harms to their workforce last week, according to one of the people. The tech industry expressed concerns to the White House, according to one of the other people.
Then, late last week, the administration veered sharply in its messaging. USCIS officials privately reassured business leaders in a meeting that most work visas would not be impacted, according to one of the people. The agency also clarified to reporters that most immigrants seeking permanent residency would not have to leave the country, although officials have yet to issue any formal guidance saying so.
“Business reached out in a straightforward way to the administration to share their concerns about the green card policy,” said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy group that represents Fortune 500 companies. “We are glad to know that the administration is listening to those concerns and willing to work with the American business community.”
The softened stance on green cards highlights ongoing tension President Trump has amplified between the business community that relies on immigrant labor and immigration hawks within Trump’s base. Last summer, the administration announced a pause on immigration raids in the hospitality and agriculture sectors following an outcry from employers about losing workers to raids. Also last summer, the administration ended up clarifying that a new $100,000 fee on H1B visas would only affect new visas, after an uproar from the business community. And Trump said he was “very much opposed” to a massive raid on a Hyundai facility in Georgia last fall, following outrage from business groups and investors.
The recent lobbying effort builds upon a broader one that has been underway for months. Business leaders have been raising concerns about restrictive immigration policy in conversations with Trump confidantes who they perceive as more friendly with the business community, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and members of the Kushner family, according to two of the people who spoke to The Post. Business leaders have also been in direct communication with the White House, specifically the Domestic Policy Council, through private channels to voice opposition to immigration policies that restrict access to workers.
After reports last week that the green card policy had taken effect, some green card applicants have been told this week that the tougher policy is ‘paused’ until immigration officials get more guidance on how to apply it, immigration lawyers told The Post.
Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that the organization had heard anecdotally that some recent green card applicants are not required to return to their home country.
“This is welcome news, and we encourage the administration to provide greater clarity,” Bradley said.
A White House official told The Post that the policy memo restates long-standing law and will not have a major impact on skilled professionals and qualified applicants who abide by the law.
The administration officials said immigration officers would be able to decide on an individual basis if someone should leave the United States to apply for a green card. Some immigrants won’t have to leave to apply for green cards, but some will have to apply from outside the U.S., they added.
The Department of Homeland Security responded to The Post with the same information.
Chris Thomas, an immigration lawyer in Denver who represents employers nationwide, said there has been “enormous backlash over this clearly flawed memorandum.”
“Company executives and business associations essentially saw this memorandum as the last straw, the moment that would compel them to outsource work to employees in other countries.”
The issue reached the halls of Congress. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), an ally of the business community, filed an amendment to essentially reverse the green card policy for legal immigrants to a budget bill Republicans were debating Thursday night that funds federal immigration enforcement agencies. It is unclear whether the measure will receive a vote.
Meanwhile, business leaders said they were only partially appeased by the softened stance, because the administration has not yet issued official guidance detailing who would be impacted. Lawyers representing major employers said they are in a wait-and-see mode.
Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates for fewer immigrants, said he was not surprised by the business backlash and described employer-sponsored green cards as “inherently exploitative,” because they force immigrant workers to stick with a single employer for years.
“The guidance does threaten to disrupt the captive labor benefit that employers enjoy in programs like the H-1B visa program,” Beck said. “I think what this guidance is doing … is merely exposing some of these long-standing problems with the nonimmigrant system.”
Some critics said the unofficial backtracking and continued lack of guidance about how the policy will be implemented allows the administration to simultaneously spread fear through immigrant communities, win points with its nativist base and appease business groups all at once.
“They get to have it both ways. They can tell their base, ‘we haven’t ruled out anything out” and tell the business community, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” said Doug Rand, a senior USCIS official during the Biden presidency.
Jarrell Dillard contributed to this report.
