Presidents’ Alliance Opposes Issuance of Final Rule That Would End H-1B Lottery and Further Undermine International Student Recruitment

PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE OPPOSES ISSUANCE OF FINAL RULE THAT WOULD END H-1B LOTTERY AND FURTHER UNDERMINE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT
New rule did not respond to or incorporate any stakeholder comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2021
Contact: Jose Magaña-Salgado (jose@presidentsalliance.org) 

Washington, D.C.—Today, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration announced its opposition to the administration’s publication of a final rule, Modification of Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions, which would direct U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to end the H-1B lottery and replace it with a system that grants H-1B petitions based on the highest salary first–a dramatic change not supported by underlying law and that will disadvantage international students pursuing career opportunities in the United States.

Miriam Feldblum, Executive Director, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, stated: “Abandoning the H-1B lottery further undermines our nation’s ability to compete for international students and scholars to attend our institutions, as those students who graduate from our institutions and would like to contribute their skills to our economy will be unlikely to receive an H-1B visa under the new process. This not only has the deleterious effect of harming the talent pipeline needed to fuel our knowledge economy, but also adds yet another disincentive for students to choose to study here in the first place. This rule will result in  our communities, economy, and country losing out on the economic, entrepreneurial, and cultural benefits that international students and scholars bring to our shores.  It represents yet another unnecessary self-inflicted wound on our nation’s legal immigration system. We call on the incoming administration to suspend the implementation of the rule and engage in subsequent rulemaking to rescind this policy.”

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The non-partisan, nonprofit Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration brings college and university presidents and chancellors together on the immigration issues that impact higher education, our students, campuses, communities and nation. We work to advance just immigration policies and practices at the federal, state, and campus level that are consistent with our heritage as a ‘nation of immigrants’ and the academic values of equity and openness. The Alliance is composed of over 500 presidents and chancellors of public and private colleges and universities, enrolling over five million students in 43 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.