Trump's new immigration restrictions will adversely impact Asian immigrants; favor white Afrikaners

Donald Trump wants more restrictions for immigrants to the US.

The United States might as well hang a sign out that says "No people of color allowed," after Donald Trump proposed new sweeping restrictions after Thanksgiving Day.

Over the past week, following an Afghan national arrested as a suspect in the fatal shooting of National Guard soldier in Washington DC, Trump issued a flurry of social media posts further restricting immigration from "third world" countries. 

As  Trump advocated new restrictions on immigration from Asia, Africa and the MIddle East, going almost unnoticed under the barrage of his social media posts, is he wants to give white South Afrikaners priority as refugees.

Trump's recent immigration declarations will affect immigrants from Asia by heightened restrictions on family-based immigration, increased scrutiny and costs for skilled-worker visas (H-1B), and travel restrictions on certain Asian nations.

Key Declarations

 The death of one National Guard soldier and seriously injuring another blocks from the White House sparked a flurry of social media pronouncements by Trump, including:

• Trump stated he would "permanently pause" migration from "all Third World Countries". When asked for clarification, the Department of Homeland Security pointed to the 19 countries already on a June 2025 travel ban list, which includes Asian countries like Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), and Laos. Nationals from these specific countries will face full or partial entry suspensions, including stricter visa requirements and potentially indefinite delays in processing.

• The Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has ordered a "full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern." For Asian immigrants from the targeted 19 countries, this means a likely increase in processing times, added background checks, longer security screening, or temporary holds on their applications.

• Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), often used by Afghan nationals who worked with the US military, have been paused following the incident, directly impacting a specific group of Asian immigrants seeking refuge and legal status.

Immigration from Asia is a significant part of U.S. immigration, with immigrants from India, China, and the Philippines being the largest groups, and origins spanning from historical migration to modern-day skilled and family-based immigration

Key effects on Asian immigrants include:

Family Reunification Challenges: Trump has emphasized a shift away from the current family-based immigration system towards a "merit-based" model. This will disproportionately affect many Asian immigrant communities (such as those from the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and China) that rely heavily on family-sponsored visas, which already face extensive backlogs. The new policies will likely prevent family members abroad from joining relatives already in the U.S., creating long-distance separations and significant delays.

H-1B Visa Restrictions: The administration continues to target the H-1B skilled-worker visa program, which is widely utilized by immigrants from India and China. Recent actions have included significant fee increases (e.g., to $100,000 per application for certain groups), higher wage requirements, and increased scrutiny during the application process, making it more difficult and expensive for US companies to hire and retain highly skilled Asian professionals.

Family reunification may be harder under Donald Trump's new proposals.

Travel Bans and Heightened Scrutiny: The administration has implemented full or partial entry suspensions and heightened scrutiny for nationals of several countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Laos. This can prevent individuals from these countries from entering the U.S. and complicate visa renewals for those already in the country.

Increased Deportation and Enforcement: The administration's push for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants also impacts Asian communities; Asian Americans constitute about 10% of the total undocumented population. There has also been an increase in the detention and deportation of Southeast Asians with existing removal orders.

Termination of Protections: The recent termination of TPS for approximately 4,000 Myanmar nationals, effective January 26, 2026, will leave these individuals vulnerable to deportation unless they can find other legal avenues to remain in the U.S.

"Ideological Screening" and Fear: Trump's declaration to block immigrants "non-compatible with Western civilization" introduces subjective criteria for entry and could lead to ideological or discriminatory screening processes. This, along with general anti-immigrant rhetoric, contributes to a climate of fear and uncertainty, potentially discouraging immigrants from accessing essential services, such as healthcare.

Even before last week's declarations fear and anxiety among Asian Americans has been on the rise.  A November 2025 poll revealed that worries about detention and deportation among Asian immigrants doubled from 14% in 2023 to 29%, a concern extending to many with lawful permanent resident (LPR) status or naturalized citizenship.

White Afrikaners 'prioritized'

Overall, these actions indicate a major shift in US immigration policy that creates significant uncertainty and fear among Asian immigrant communities, even for those with legal status.

Among these proposed policies that generally reduces immigration from "third-world" countries and has severely cut the overall US refugee admission ceiling to a record low, the Trump administration has specifically prioritized members of the white Afrikaner minority. This policy is based on Trump's claims of a "white genocide" and land seizures in South Africa,  

The Trump administration has not provided data or credible evidence to substantiate its claim of "white genocide" in South Africa. The claims have been widely fact-checked and debunked by the South African government, independent experts, human rights organizations, and even the US State Department's own reports.

South African immigrants Elon Musk, left and Peter Thiel are major Donald Trump supporters.

Critics have offered two reasons explaining the apparent emphasis on South Africa white immigrants:

1. Critics argue that the policy is a "dog whistle" appealing to white victimhood and is consistent with Trump's preference for immigrants from predominantly white countries over those from "third world" nations. Some officials suggested the preference was because they would be easier to assimilate.

2. It is payback to two billionaire supporters, both immigrants from South Africa and who have financed Trump's campaign: Elon Musk, the richest person in the world who donated millions of dollars to put Trump in the Oval Office and helped Trump drastically reduce the federal workforce in the opening months of the Trump administration; and Peter Thiel,  a venture capitalist and tech investor known for co-founding PayPal and being an early investor in Facebook. He has been a vocal supporter and advisor for Trump. Although Thiel hasn't donated directly to the Heritage Foundation, the think tank that developed Project 2025, his philanthropic foundation has been a major donor (reportedly $10 million) to the Donor's Trust, a "dark money" group that in turn has funded the Heritage Foundation.

The administration is restricting legal immigration pathways through measures like expanded travel bans targeting specific countries, increased fees for applications, and limits on H-1B and student work visas, impacting the flow of talent into the US.

In essence, experts anticipate that the wide-ranging pronouncements will lead to a smaller population and workforce, a weaker economy in the long run, and profound social and personal costs for immigrant communities and the nation as a whole.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

Biden opens the door for immigrants who have U.S. visas

President Joe Biden is reversing another Donald Trump executive order by lifting the ban that prevented many green card applicants from entering the country. Biden said that shutting the door on legal immigration did not help the U.S.

In issuing a new Presidential order, Biden has revoked Trump proclamation that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States.

The order by former Trump, known as Presidential Proclamation 100014, cited a need to protect US jobs amid high unemployment rates caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump had frozen "green cards" for new immigrants and halted temporary work visas for skilled workers, managers and au pairs in the H-1B, H-4, H-2B, L-1 and J categories, he said to protect jobs.

The White House statement overturned Trump's order measure saying Trump’s ban separated families and “does not advance the interests of the United States”.

“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” the statement reads.

"It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world. And it harms individuals who were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for, and those who have likewise received, immigrant visas through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery. Proclamation 10014 has prevented these individuals from entering the United States, resulting, in some cases, in the delay and possible forfeiture of their opportunity to receive Fiscal Year 2020 diversity visas and to realize their dreams in the United States," the order continued.

Prior to the shutdown, about 65,000 of the visas were issued each year. The U.S. tech industry relied heavily on H-1B visa holders, most of them from South Asia, to fill jobs in the industry.

As many as 120,000 family-based preference visas will benefit from Biden's order allowing families to be reunited, according to the American Immigrant Lawyers Association. Immigrants could not bring over family members unless they were U.S. citizens applying for visas for their spouses or children under the age of 21.

AAPI leaders blast Trump's latest immigration ban on worker visas

Donald Trump's latest attempt to limit immigration to the US is receiving a wall of condemnation from Asian American and medical organizations. 

Trump issued an executive order on Monday (June 23) limiting legal immigration through the rest of 2020. The order restricts H-1B visas, which include specialty occupations such as tech workers and postdoctoral scholars; H-2B, temporary non-agricultural workers; certain categories of J visas, which includes international workers typically hired to temporarily fill jobs like au pairs, camp counselors, and more; and L-visas, which are used for intracompany transfers. 

The order does not include agricultural workers and makes exceptions for those who would be in the national interest, like medical professionals essential in fighting Covid-19 and caring for patients afflicted with the coronavirus. 

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, issued the following statement:

“Once again, despite claiming that he loves immigrants and only wants to uphold the law, Donald Trump demonstrates his goal is to upend our laws in order to end all immigration," said Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, in a statement. 

The California Democrat said Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to curtail legal immigration to the United States, chipping away at decades of immigration policies that have enabled our nation to attract top talent from around the world that has bolstered the US economy until Trump was elected. 

"This will disproportionately impact high-skilled workers from Asia, who overwhelming utilize the H1-B visa system and account for over 80 percent of H1-B visa holders in the United States. It’s a purely xenophobic and bigoted agenda that actually works against our national interest. As the exceptions to this order prove, immigrants are vital to our economy. 

"Immigrants are not only needed in agriculture and medicine – two wildly divergent fields – they’re needed in business, academia, and everything in between as well. If we want to rebuild our economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot close ourselves off from immigrants. 

New American Economy launched an Immigrants and COVID-19 Portal this year to show the vital role immigrants play in the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its response and recovery.

The report from NAE pointed out that in health care, AAPIs account for more than 20 percent of physicians and surgeons, about 14 percent of whom are immigrants. And 1 in 11 nurses are AAPI, about 75 percent of whom are immigrants. AAPIs also support the country’s food supply chain by as workers in agriculture, food processing plants, grocery stores and restaurants.

Adding their voice to those questioning Trump's anti-immigrant positions was a national organization of doctors. 

"We are concerned that the limited exception for physicians, nurses and other health professionals will not ensure that IMGs (International medical graduates) are able to enter the U.S. for education, training, research and medical care if it is not directly related to COVID-19," said Dr. Jacqueline W. Fincher, President of the American College of Physicians.

“Trump continues to advance his xenophobic agenda to divide the country and scapegoat immigrants. He’s used every moment of crisis, every failure of his as an opportunity to expand his nativist policies and prevent hardworking families from reunification," said Megan Essaheb, Director of Immigration Advocacy at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

"Instead of building infrastructure for testing, contact tracing, and PPE that would diminish the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration is going after immigrants and foreign workers in a bid to distract from its immense failures.," Alvina Yeh, Executive Director of Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO. "The Administration has already killed more than 100,000 Americans due to their inaction on COVID-19: they are seeking to bring harm upon thousands more families with this immigrant ban."

Since taking office, immigration has been one of his top issues, from building a wall in the country's southern border, a ban on travelers from certain Muslim countries, separating young children from their parents,  tightening the requirements for refugees, and trying to remove family reunification as a prioritiy for US immigration policy. 

In addition, last week, the US Supreme Court rejected his attempt to end the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that allowed those immigrants who arrived with their parents who entered the country without documents. 

Statement attributable to:

Jacqueline W. Fincher, MD, MACP

President, American College of Physicians





Washington, DC (June 23, 2020) — The American College of Physicians (ACP) is concerned that the executive order that President Trump issued yesterday to suspend immigration in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will have a broad, negative impact on U.S. health care and calls for its immediate withdrawal.

International medical graduates (IMGs) and other non-citizens are critical members of our country’s health care delivery system. We are concerned that the limited exception for physicians, nurses and other health professionals will not ensure that IMGs are able to enter the U.S. for education, training, research and medical care if it is not directly related to COVID-19. A new class of resident physicians are scheduled to begin their training in a little more than a week, including many IMGs who are poised to arrive in the U.S. and begin treating patients.

The order could additionally hinder the ability of other scientists to enter the U.S. for teaching, research, public health collaboration and other essential activities. It would also restrict their family members from entering the U.S., placing undue stress on them at an already impossibly stressful time.

We urge the administration to withdraw this order and instead shift their focus to evidence-based efforts that can help us to mitigate the impact and spread of this virus. If the administration declines to withdraw the order, Congress should enact legislation to stop it from going into effect. Now is the time to be focusing on increasing our health system’s capacity and supporting physicians and other health care professionals.

Issuance of H-1B visas suspended for the rest of the year

With Donald Trump's latest action further limiting the visas issued this year, it is clear that immigration will be the cornerstone of his reelection campaign.

Monday’s presidential proclamation temporarily blocks certain types of worker visas through the rest of 2020. The order applies to H-1B visas, H-2B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and certain J-1 visas that apply to tech workers, seasonal workers, researchers and executives transferring to the US from positions abroad.

The measure largely closes loopholes in the president’s executive order that he signed in April that restricted green card access for certain immigrants trying to enter the country.

"We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens," said Trump in a statement.

The suspension will go into effect Wednesday, June 24. The restrictions will apply only to new work visas and not to existing holders who are already in the United States. Those visa holders who are outside the US when the order goes into effect will not be allowed to return to the US.

The proclamation will impact thousands of foreign workers in fields as wide-ranging from the high-tech workers in Silicon Valley to au pairs in the Hudson River Valley. The Migration Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, DC, estimated that they would block 219,000 temporary workers.

Trump said that between February and April, more than 20 million American workers lost their jobs in key industries where employers are currently requesting H-1B and L workers to fill positions. 

The order exempts workers deemed "essential workers" in battling the pandemic. That includes healthcare professionals and agricultural workers who harvest the crops.

Sundar Pichai, the immigrant from India who is Chief Executive of Google and Alphabet said he was disappointed with Trump's latest attempt to  restrict immigration.

"Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation - we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all," Pichai tweeted.

Silicon Valley’s tech companies for years have relied heavily on the H-1B, pushing for an expansion to the annual cap of 85,000 new visas and arguing that they need more visas to secure the world’s top talent. Nearly 70% of the 85,000 H1-B visas issued each year go to  workers from India.

The Information Technology Industry Council, a high-profile lobby group for large technology companies including Silicon Valley giants Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Oracle and Salesforce, told the San Jose Mercury News that Trump’s move came at a bad time, and urged him to reconsider.

“Today’s executive action stands to upend the ability of U.S. employers – in the tech sector and beyond – to hire the men and women they need to strengthen their workforce, re-power the economy, and drive innovation,” the group said in an statement emailed to the Mercury News. “At a critical time for the U.S. economy, it will have a dangerous impact on the economic recovery and growth for years to come. As U.S. companies get their employees back to work, immigrants working in the technology industry are vital to sustaining promising recovery trends, as well as supporting the United States’ ongoing response to COVID-19.”

It is certain that the presidential campaign will swirl around the economy and Trump's bungling of the pandemic. Immigration might not sway moderate voters but it will cement Trump's support among his base. It will also encourage anti-immigrant acts, already raw from the anti-Asian attacks blamed for the coronavirus.

Analysis: Trump's "pause" on immigration, could be a step to further limits

TWITTER

Stephen Miller uses the pandemic to implement part of Trump's anti-immigrant policies.

Donald Trump used the coronavirus pandemic as a cover for his racist goal of limiting immigration to the US when he signed an executive order shutting the door on all immigrants waiting for a visa to come to the US to pursue the opportunities the country has to offer.

The temporary 60-day "pause," is a step in Trump's overall goal of ensuring the top social, economic and political power and privilege is reserved for the white majority since the day  European refugees, treasure seekers and adventurers began taking land from the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

To be sure, no administration official stated those goals in such blunt language, but that was the essential message from Stephen Miller, the chief policy advisor of Trump's immigration agenda, when he spoke on a conference call with a group of like-minded allies Thursday (April 23), according to the New York Times.
Others didn't mince words.

Trump is "using a pandemic to stoke xenophobia and encourage more anger, all to change the conversation away from his failed coronavirus response," said California's Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

"Banning immigration does not produce more masks or protective equipment. It does not improve testing. And it does not help our supply lines, where immigrants are disproportionality essential. The President should stop playing politics and instead focus on the policies our country needs to weather this crisis,” continued Chu.

Trump’s decision to suspend immigration because of the coronavirus is the beginning of a broader strategy to reduce the flow of foreigners into the the country Stephen Miller, whose past emails reveal his belief in white supremacist values, told a group of conservative allies on Thursday.

“The first and most important thing is to turn off the faucet of new immigrant labor — mission accomplished — with signing that executive order,” Miller told, according to an audio recording of the conference call obtained by The New York Times.

For 60 days, US embassies would stop issuing green cards to would-be immigrants. That would have a severe impact on some Asian countries such as The Philippines and India, which have decades-long waiting lists for the coveted visa.

In order to make the order more palatable to the anti-immigrant but pro-business listerers on the other end of the call, the mandate would exclude those workers who are considered "essential" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

That would mean doctors and nurses could still come to the US to care for Covid-19 patients; but it also means farm workers needed to harvest the produce, cut up the meat, raise the chickens would also be allowed into the US.

"Millions of immigrants are currently risking their lives in front line jobs during this crisis to keep our country safe. For instance, immigrants make up 27.9% of doctors and surgeons in the U.S. and 23.8% of the nurses and home aides," said Chu. 

The definition of "essential" is open to wide interpretation. Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt, co-host for the right-wing Fox & Friends, will apparently be allowed to keep her immigrant au pair, because her job is "essential" in disseminated the conservative ideology of Fox and Trump.

Trump disguised his anti-immigrant rule as a benefit to the record-number of unemployed due to the stay-at-home policies put in place by several governors to fight the spread of the virus.

"It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced with new immigrants — labor flown in from abroad," Trump said. "We must first take care of the American worker — take care of the American worker."

But Miller made it clear that the temporary order could be expanded to include more job classifications and depending on how long the coronavirus continues to plague the US way of life, the order could be extended.

He pointed out that by implementing the "pause," the policy would stop what conservatives call "chain migration," wherein immigrants can apply for relatives to join them in the US. Family reunification has been a key element of the 1965 Immigration Reform Law that did away with the immigration policies that favored immigrants from European countries.

“When you suspend the entry of a new immigrant from abroad, you’re also reducing immigration further, because of the chains of follow-on migration that are disrupted,” Miller said on the recording as reported by the NY Times. “So the benefit to American workers compounds with time.”
"Congress designed our immigration system around the value that families deserve to be together, and family-based immigration is responsible for many of the strong, vibrant, and diverse Asian American communities today," said Asian American Advancing Justice in a statement.

"As 92% of Asian Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants, Asian American communities will be greatly impacted by this ban. US citizens and lawful permanent residents will not be able to reunify with their parents, adult children, and siblings."

“Trump’s new immigration ban is an attempt to distract from his failed response to COVID-19 and manipulates the pandemic to justify his and Stephen Miller’s white nationalist agenda," the AAAJ statement continued. 

House passes bill to increase H-1B visas: Senate chances dim

The line for visas at the US Embassy in Manila.

Almost lost amidst the news swirling around the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, the citizenship question on the Census, and the pending ICE raids, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R.1044) on Wednesday (July 10) which would change the way H-1B visas are apportioned to each country.

The legislation addresses the decades-long wait times for applicants from places like India, China, or the Philippines by eliminating caps for employment-based visas and raising the family visa cap from 7 percent to 15 percent. 

However, the Senate version will likely go down in flames.

“In order for American industries to remain competitive and create more jobs, they must be able to recruit and retain the best talent in the world,” said the bill's sponsor, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents part of Silicon Valley.

Many of the impacted applicants already live and work in America and are doctors, engineers, and scientists who studied in American universities. They have faced decades-long wait times for permanent residence and as a result, have decided to relocate to other countries, subsequently hurting the future of the U.S. economy. 

This is especially good news for Silicon Valley, where around seven in 10 workers are foreign-born. With the limit abolished, Indians, the largest cohort of the H-1B visa recipients with green card wait times ranging between a long 12 and an aggravating 150 years, stand to reap the biggest benefits.

New American Economy (NAE) issued the following statement in support of the legislation:

“This legislation is an important step in creating an immigration system that allows the most talented workers to work in the United States,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “We applaud the House for taking action and urge the Senate to follow suit and remove undue barriers that restrict the U.S. economy from reaching its full potential.”

New research from New American Economy finds that:

• Indian, Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese immigrants are disproportionately affected by country caps and the backlog in permanent residency applications. Of the nearly 400,000 green card applications that were in the backlog as of April 2018, over 95 percent hailed from India, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. 

• Immigrants from countries most directly affected by the current per-country cap are well-educated. Nearly 80 percent of Indian immigrants have bachelor’s degrees and more than 27 percent of Chinese immigrants have advanced degrees.

• The immigrants who may be positively impacted by this legislation will contribute substantially to the American economy. Indian immigrant households earned nearly $162.6 billion and paid more than $50.0 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2017, and Chinese immigrant households earned nearly $116.9 billion in 2017 and paid more than $34.9 billion in taxes. Filipino and Vietnamese immigrants also made significant contributions to the U.S. economy, paying more than $20.5 billion $11.9 billion in taxes respectively and holding more than $53.5 billion and $33.2 billion in spending power respectively

SOURCE: USCIS

Aman Kapoor, the Co-Founder and President of Immigration Voice stated that:
“Immigration Voice is absolutely thrilled that the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act has received this overwhelming bipartisan support and vote of confidence from the members of the House of Representatives.  ... The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act is a win-win for the American people. It will grow our economy by allowing highly skilled immigrants to start their own companies and will make sure that these new companies hire American workers who are made more attractive by this bill.

Critics of the bill fear that it will allow one country, India in particular, to dominate the visa for decades to come, something that Lofgren admits will occur. She said it would take a decade under her legislation before visa applications would even out.

The Philippines, India and Vietnam would also benefit if the bill passes that doubles the percentage of visas allowed for family reunification, from 7% to 15%. Currently, there are about 336,000 on the wait list, which amounts about a 23 year wait for a visa under this category.

The GOP-dominated Senate will vote on its version of the Bill, S. 386, where it faces only a 4% chance of passage according to govtrack.com. 

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Sunday Read: Asian immigrants transforming Silicon Valley

Immigrants from Asia continue to flow into lucrative jobs in Silicon Valley, making up for an exodus of residents tired of worsening traffic, hight cost of living and soaring home prices.

The influx of Asian immigrants -- particularly from India and China -- is transforming Silicon Valley, the legendary birthplace of the high-tech industry and home of dreamers and investors, according to an annual report from think-tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley.

For the first time in Silicon Valley’s history, Asian residents represent the largest population share (34 percent) living in the region, despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric spewing forth from the White House and new restrictions placed on work visas for foreign workers.

“The share of foreign-born residents has increased by nearly three percentage points since 2009, reaching 38 percent in 2017 (compared to 27 percent in California and 14 percent in the US)," says the report.

Immigrants make up 69% of the Silicon Valley workforce in highly technical occupations, including 26% from India and 14% from China. Other countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan and other countries make up 29%. Only 17% are from California, and 14% are from other U.S. states.

The region is also getting more educated, with 51.6% of residents holding a bachelor’s degree, up from 44.2% in 2007. Twenty-four percent of adults in Silicon Valley also have a graduate or professional degree.

The annual report examines statistics across the local economy, social issues, housing, transportation, the environment and governance, among other topics.

Almost 3 out of 4 women tech workers in the region between ages 25 and 44 are foreign-born and are disproportionately from Asian countries, married and have children

Since women with college degrees tend to have children later in life and fewer children in total, Silicon Valley’s increasing educational attainment level is likely a factor driving our declining birth rate (which was lower in 2018 than any other year in the past half-century).

The Silicon Valley report coincides with another study by the Pew Research Center that also found the rapid growth of immigrants from Asia in Silicon Valley.

The Silicon Valley Youth Orchestra reflects the Asian influence in California's high-tech hub.

According to new research from the Pew Research Center based on more than a decade of student-visa data, the Silicon Valley and San Francisco metros rank among the top ten destinations for foreign students earning American university degrees and staying to work.

Including the more than 77,000 foreign students who migrated to the region for employment after earning degrees in other U.S. cities, the Bay Area attracted more than 120,000 foreign-student workers from 2004 to 2016—more than any other market in the country except New York City, Pew says.

The Joint Venture Silicon Valley report also touched on the high cost of living and terrible traffic plaguing the valley. The full Joint Venture Silicon Valley report can be found at jointventure.org.

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H-1B visa holders back in Baltimore schools

COURTESY OF MILES AQUAS

Baltimore schools' Filipino teachers recently gathered to celebrate their return.

Almost all of the two dozen Filipino teachers who had to leave Baltimore because of expiring visas are back in their classrooms.
Baltimore City Schools Chief Human Capital Officer Jeremy Grant-Skinner tells The Baltimore Sun the district was committed to bringing the veteran educators back because of the value they brought to a school system beset by high teacher turnover.

Most of the teachers worked in tough-to-fill math, science and special education positions, and were hired through a foreign teacher recruitment effort in the late 2000s to compensate for a lack of American-born teachers.

At the end of the 2018 school year, with their H-1B visas expiring, they had to return to the Philippines and leave behind the students they cherished in Baltimore.

Many city schools principals held the Filipino teachers’ spots in hopes they would be back. In most cases, instead of rushing to replace them, principals hired long-term substitutes for the first few months of this school year.

The school system’s commitment to have the teachers return speaks to the value these veteran educators bring to the Baltimore school district, said chief human capital officer Jeremy Grant-Skinner.

In a district beset by high teacher turnover, some of the Filipino educators had worked in Baltimore for more than a decade. Now that they’re back in the United States through visa extensions, the district plans to turn its attention to helping the teachers establish permanent residency.

“We’re happy to be in a place where almost everyone is back on the team,” Grant-Skinner said. “This is a group of people who are committed long-term to the district.”

Most of the two dozen Filipino teachers who had to leave Baltimore at the end of the last school year because of expiring visas have returned to their classrooms.

Baltimore City Schools Chief Human Capital Officer Jeremy Grant-Skinner tells The Baltimore Sun the district was committed to bringing the veteran educators back because of the value they brought to a school system beset by high teacher turnover.

Most of the teachers worked in tough-to-fill math, science and special education positions, and were hired through a foreign teacher recruitment effort in the late 2000s to compensate for a lack of American-born teachers. Like school districts across the country, they turned to hring foreign teachers.

Hundreds of foreign teachers were recruited by Baltimore schools. The Baltimore Sun reports that the district employs about 250 foreign teachers.

The Filipino teachers's visas were audited last year by immigration officials carrying out Donald Trump's order to reduce the number of H-1B visas under the belief that these visa holders were taking the jobs away from American citizens. The visas enable recipients to stay for an initial three years, with the possibility of extensions.

The district worked with an immigration firm to secure visa extensions and will now try to help the teachers establish permanent residency.

The Filipino teachers, who didn't want to bring attention to themselves, did not want to be interviewed for this story.

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Steve Bannon blames Asians for taking jobs from African Americans and Latinos

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

CNN host Fareed Zakaria interviewed for Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, right

RADICAL CONSERVATIVE Steve Bannon recently took swiped at immigrants who come to America on H-1B visas, the majority of whom come from Asia. 

In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, which aired on CNN a week ago, the former White House chief strategist known for his hardline stance on immigration said that if “you’re from Asia and you’re here, second-generation, you’re (an) American citizen, that’s absolutely no problem.”

But Bannon told the Indian American host that he felt differently about those who are in the U.S. via the visa, which allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. 

“These (H-1B) visas where you come here… basically to take the jobs of American citizens is just not acceptable. And that’s not racist,” Bannon said. “The central beating heart of this is that Hispanics and blacks have to get into the high valuated tech jobs; we’re never going to do that as long as they have unfair competition.”

JOHN YANG

Zakaria mentioned remarks by Bannon last year in which he said that “two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia,” and that the U.S. “is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

Pressed to explain his views, the former former CEO for the conservative Breitbart News, said he was espousing “economic nationalism,” which he claimed has nothing to do with race, ethnicity, religion or gender, but concerns American citizenship. 

The overwhelming majority of H-1B visas go to immigrants from Asia, specifically India and China. Those who qualify for them have a bachelor’s degree or higher and work in fields that require highly specialized knowledge, especially in the fields of medicine and tech.

Bannon’s comments, however, are based off various stereotypes and fears of Asian immigrants, said John C. Yang, the executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). 

Bannon is particularly misguided by the “model minority” myth that Asians have higher incomes and higher levels of education than other minorities, said Yang.

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“I think what Mr. Bannon is clearly trying to do is race-bait. He is trying to drive a wedge between races,” Yang told HuffPost. “What he’s really doing is trying to limit opportunities for all minorities.” 

“He’s just trying to draw a wedge and he’s hoping that somehow that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will read his quote and find alliance with him rather than with all the minorities.

Bannon's theory against the H-1B visa holders has repeatedly been debunked by numerous studies.

A New American Economy study showed placing caps on the H-1B visas actually disproportionately hurt U.S.-born tech workers, especially those who have bachelor’s degrees. H-1B visa denials in 2007 and 2008 slowed down jobs and wage growth and caused over 200 metropolitan areas to miss out on creating 231,224 tech jobs for U.S.-born workers. It also cost college-educated tech workers as much as $3 billion in total annual earnings.

Bannon's assertion that Asians comprise the majority of tech C.E.O. positions is way off the mark. A recent study by Ascend, a nonprofit group for Pan-Asian business leaders, concluded that although Asians and Asian-Americans are well represented in lower positions at companies— 27 percent of professionals at Silicon Valley tech companies -- less than 19 percent of managers, and fewer than 14 percent of executives at Silicon Valley tech companies are Asian or Asian American. Instead of having an overabundance of Asians in leadership positions, the data strongly suggests that systemic bias prevents Asians and Asian Americans from moving up the career ladder in proportionate numbers.

Ascend also found that when it comes to career advancement in Silicon Valley, race trumps gender. It found that U.S.-born white men and women are 154 percent more likely to have top executive roles in large companies rather than their Asian counterparts.

“If he really believed that he wanted to get more opportunities for minorities…then he should be talking about increasing educational opportunities for minorities,"  said Yang, . "He should not be talking about how one race is supposedly taking from another race. That’s just not the reality here.”

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