Trump Is Damaging America with This

298

September 3, 2018

Published in FAZ
(Germany) on 25 August 2018
by Roland Lindner (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Holly Bickerton. Edited by Nkem Okafor.

America has been granting special visas allowing highly qualified foreigners into the country for many years. Now the government is making this difficult – a bad idea.

The American government has been granting H-1B visas for many years. They allow highly qualified foreigners into the country to do jobs for which there are no suitable Americans. They are used primarily by technology firms like Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM. These work permits were already subject to criticism before Donald Trump became president and made "America First" his governing philosophy. There was some justification for this, as instances of companies who seemed to use this visa to replace American workers with cheaper foreign ones came to light.

But the bottom line is that America benefits from the H-1B visa. It doesn't just help companies find competent people for complex jobs; the holders of this visa often establish themselves in America and some start their own companies, contributing to the country's economic well-being. Despite this, Trump is now making it difficult to get such visas and is also making it less attractive − for instance, with plans to abolish work permits for spouses. America is cutting off its nose to spite its face.

Damit schadet Trump Amerika
Amerika vergibt seit vielen Jahren spezielle Visa, um hochqualifizierte Ausländer ins Land zu lassen. Die Regierung erschwert das nun – keine gute Idee.
Die amerikanische Regierung vergibt seit vielen Jahren sogenannte „H-1B“-Visa. Mit ihnen sollen hochqualifizierte Ausländer ins Land gebracht werden, um Positionen zu besetzen, für die es keine geeigneten Amerikaner gibt. Vor allem Technologieunternehmen wie Amazon, Microsoft, Google oder IBM nehmen diese Visa in Anspruch.
An diesen Arbeitsgenehmigungen hat es schon Kritik gegeben, bevor Donald Trump Präsident wurde und „America First“ zu seiner Regierungsphilosophie erklärt hat. Teilweise war das auch berechtigt, denn es wurden Beispiele von Unternehmen bekannt, die diese Visa zu nutzen schienen, um amerikanische Mitarbeiter durch billigere ausländische Kräfte zu ersetzen.
Aber unter dem Strich profitiert Amerika von diesen H-1B-Visa. Nicht nur helfen sie Unternehmen, fähiges Personal für komplexe Aufgaben zu finden. Die Inhaber der Visa etablieren sich auch oft in Amerika und gründen in manchen Fällen ihre eigenen Unternehmen, womit sie zum wirtschaftlichen Wohl des Landes beitragen.
Trotzdem erschwert es Trump jetzt, an solche Visa heranzukommen, und macht sie auch unattraktiver, etwa mit Plänen für eine Abschaffung von Arbeitsgenehmigungen für die Ehepartner der Visa-Inhaber. Amerika schneidet sich damit ins eigene Fleisch.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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