Immigration Howling, Hope, Hype and Hodgepodge: USCIS’s New L-1B Memo - Angelo A. Paparelli

"Social media flamed with expressions of outrage, relief and tepid optimism ever since President Obama announced on March 23, 2015 the release of long-awaited  policy guidance on a key temporary worker visa category:

Today, I’m pleased to announce a new action I’m also taking to make it easier for global companies who are present here today to launch and invest in the U.S.  My administration is going to reform the L-1B visa category, which allows corporations to temporarily move workers from a foreign office to a U.S. office in a faster, simpler way.  And this could benefit hundreds of thousands of nonimmigrant workers and their employers; that, in turn, will benefit our entire economy and spur additional investment.  (Applause.) [Bolding added.]

For visual learners, here he is a video for streaming to one’s smartphone or browser (the passage above begins at 9:40):

Released the next day by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the L-1B policy guidance, published in draft form with a request for feedback accepted until May 8, will take effect on August 31.

Outrage burned from the usual quarters, namely, folks on the right who oppose every immigration initiative the President has floated, including NumbersUSA (“American Tech Workers Would Compete With Hundreds of Thousands of New Guest Workers Under Obama’s L-1B Visa Proposal“); Freedom Outpost (“Obama Continues Loosening the Reins on Illegal Aliens in the US“); Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent for the Washington Examiner, a Fox News contributor, and author of The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy (“Did you know Obama just took new executive action on immigration?”); and the Daily Caller (“Obama Announces Unilateral Action To Bring In More Guest Workers“).

Others heaved sighs of relief or cautious optimism — the American Immigration Lawyers Association (“Welcome Changes to Business Visas but Implementation Means Everything” and “the memo’s guidance may ‘be solid ground work for consistency in adjudications,'” quoting Robert Deasy, AILA’s Deputy Director of Programs, as reported in an otherwise oppositionist article by Patrick Thibodeau of Computerworld); the Council for Global Immigration, through Justin Storch, its Manager of Agency Liaison (“We are hopeful that the memo will provide some clarification for both employers and adjudicators so the denial rates will decrease“), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, through Randel K. Johnson, its Senior Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits (“We are particularly pleased to see the guidance proposal reiterate that the burden of proof is the preponderance of the evidence standard and that the agency must give deference to its prior decisions“).

Frankly, after waiting years for new guidance on L-1B eligibility, I’m deeply disappointed.  Here’s my take on this poorly reasoned, and inartfully articulated rehash of long-accepted principles now burdened with a perverse array of contradictory, extra-legal and impractical notions...: - Angelo A. Paparelli, Apr. 8, 2015.