Effects Of Increased Enforcement, Security, Nationalism On Immigration Law: An Overview

This post provides an overview of recent developments in Canada and the United States with respect to increases in enforcement, security measures, and nationalism.

Canada

The election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States and the hostile political climate that has ensued in relation to immigration issues has had a significant impact on Canadian immigration. The initial enforcement of President Trump’s Executive Order, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” has significantly affected the seven countries named in the ban. Many citizens of these countries living in the United States, fearful for their future, have turned to Canada as an alternative. Canadian immigration lawyers have witnessed an increase in the interest of highly skilled individuals living and working in the United States in relocating to Canada.

The interest in Canada has also increased due to the temporary pause in the issuance of H-1B visas in the United States, effective April 3, 2017. This is in stark contrast with the recent commitment of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to faster processing times for work permits for highly skilled workers. It remains to be seen whether Canada will seize this opportunity to attract more foreign talent. It is interesting to note that this political climate in the United States coincides with Canada’s Express Entry selection system inviting the highest number of candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence since the program began on January 1, 2015.

President Trump’s election has also been a trigger for individuals to cross the border into Canada to make refugee claims. In light of the Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States, which stipulates that individuals must make a refugee claim in the first country in which they land, many individuals in the United States have been illegally crossing the border to avoid being caught under the agreement (which only applies at official ports of entry). Although the exact numbers of individuals making refugee claims in Canada is not known, the increase is significant and has captured the attention of news outlets across Canada. Available statistics indicate that the number of asylum seekers intercepted at the border in the first two months of 2017 is equal to approximately half of the total number of asylum seekers intercepted in all of 2016. As the weather warms up in Canada, it is expected that even more individuals will be making their way to Canada, thus putting more and more pressure on Canadian Border Service Agency officers to monitor borders and guide asylum seekers in making refugee claims.

United States

Scrutiny has increased at U.S. consulates and ports of entry. Following the injunction on enforcement of President Trump’s revised travel ban, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued diplomatic cables on March 17, 2017, directing all U.S. consular posts to increase scrutiny of visa applications and applicants for security threats. U.S. consular officers are expected to ask more detailed questions about applicants’ backgrounds. Consular officers also must refer applicants to the Fraud Prevention Unit for mandatory social media history checks if they were present in an area when it was controlled by the “Islamic State” (ISIS) or if the officer determines that an applicant may have ties to ISIS or other terrorist groups. This directive has caused a slowdown in visa issuance and an increase in visa denials.

Once a person is issued a visa or is traveling without a visa under the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been reported to have increased scrutiny and raised the usual lines of questioning, specifically for business travelers and those entering on U.S. work visas. Travelers under the Visa Waiver Program should be prepared for questioning if a CBP immigration inspector determines that they have not been previously interviewed and sufficiently vetted before traveling.

Also, President Trump signed the “Buy American and Hire American” Executive Order on April 18, 2017. The order sets forth his administration’s policy to “maximize…the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States” and to “rigorously enforce and administer the laws governing entry into the United States of workers from abroad.”
The “Hire American” portion of the order calls on the U.S. Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security and the Attorney General to “propose new rules and issue new guidance to supersede or revise previous rules and guidance if appropriate, to protect the interests of U.S. workers in the administration of our immigration system, including through the prevention of fraud or abuse.”

Specifically, the agencies are directed to “suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B Specialty Occupation Nonimmigrant Visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries.”In addition to directing agencies to consider changes in the H-1B lottery system, the Executive Order also calls for rigorous enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. Immigration attorneys have already seen an increase in the rate of requests for further evidence issued by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). Such requests may challenge the nature of the position offered—for example, whether it is a “specialty occupation” that normally requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific specialty field—and question the individual’s qualifications for employment in the specialty field. Specific areas of scrutiny include entry-level computer programmers and analysts, as well as staffing companies and foreign workers involved in “third party placement,” which is when the usual place of activity is at a client site rather than the employer’s premises. This trend is likely to continue as USCIS and other agencies move forward in implementation of the new administration’s enforcement-driven policies.