PRESSING ISSUES That was Lynn Shotwell’s cue. After noting the long history of cooperation between CERC and CFGI, Shotwell painted a daunting picture of how many pressing issues CERC’s American neigh- bour is facing, and why temporary entry isn’t at the top of the priority list for the U.S. industry as it seeks to have input in the NAFTA renegotiation. Shotwell started with the “Buy American, Hire American” (BAHA) policy adopted by the Trump White House, which she said has led to a narrowing of American access to overseas talent. This year, just before the annual lottery for H1B visas (last year there were 200,000 applicants for 85,000 visas), the U.S. government made a couple of policy changes that affected the placement of employees at company sites and changed requirements around entry-level wages. “Employers are getting many more requests for evidence or RFEs, saying ‘give us some more information; we’re not sure if this person is qualified for the visa,’” Shotwell said. “We’ve seen huge upticks in the number of denials after RFEs, often based upon wages, but also questioning whether the job the person is working in is a specialty occupation that qualifies for the visa.” The same RFEs are being issued for L1 intracompany transfer visas, contributing to a case backlog of several months. The U.S. administration has also made noises about getting rid entirely of J1 visas, which are employed for a variety of circumstances – work travel for college students, corporate training and intern- ships, au pairs, etc. On top of that is “extreme vetting,” Shotwell said. “You have employees having to present their social media passwords and accounts and being questioned across the board. Coupled with that, the government is going to double the number of site visits related to H1B visa fraud investiga- tions, plus more regular unemployment fraud investigations.” The U.S. government is also planning to revoke work authorizations from a number of immigration categories, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), better known as the “Dreamers”: people who entered the U.S. as minors, remained illegally, and were given work permit eligibility and a deferral on deportation by former President Barack Obama. “We have 700,000 DACA recipients who, if Congress doesn’t act by March 5, will lose their status at a rate of 30,000 a month,” Shotwell said. “They could be deported. That includes 25,000 elementary school teachers.” These are some of the reasons CFGI is already overworked and may not be in a position to devote as much atten- tion to temporary entry as the Canadian relocation industry would like. Shotwell identified priorities from a joint CERC- CFGI member survey conducted over the “The U.S. government is also planning to revoke work authorizations from a number of immigration categories, including DACA” summer, which found the top issue was inconsistent decision-making by border officials. Sixty-seven per cent of employers cited this is a cause of delays for employees entering Canada from the U.S., and 76 per cent for employees going the other way. The new atmosphere of intense scrutiny also puts a premium on updating outdated occupations lists, Shotwell added. In the new atmosphere of heightened enforce- ment, fitting an employee into an occupa- tion description that’s simply the best available approximation to what they actually do isn’t an option relocation professionals feel comfortable with. Shotwell concluded by listing the U.S. business priorities for temporary entry in the NAFTA talks. “We’re looking for an expanded and modernized NAFTA profes- sionals list, we’re looking for clarity on requirements for specialized knowledge workers, and we want better administra- tive processes and communication. We also want to adapt modern technology to help speed crossings at the border, and we need better training to ensure consistent decisions.” IMMIGRATION Spring 2018 PERSPECTIVES 27