Colleges say new rules on H-1B visas from Trump administration would make it hard if not impossible to retain international researchers and professors.
Colleges joined with major business and industry groups in filing a lawsuit challenging new Trump administration rules that would narrow the eligibility requirements for H-1B skilled worker visas and increase the wages employers would have to pay visa holders.
Colleges use H-1B visas to hire international professors and researchers, and the visas are a common route international graduates of U.S. universities use to stay in the U.S. and work after completing their degrees.
Trump administration officials have framed the new rules as intended to “restore integrity” to the H-1B visa program and protect American workers. In announcing the rules two weeks ago, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said he expected the changes to cut the number of petitions for H-1B visas by one-third.