Biden has let Trump's nonimmigrant visa ban visas expire on March 31. The nonimmigrant visa ban was issued by Trump administration in June 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was still in its infancy. He renewed and extended the in the waning days of his presidential term right before it was set to expire. The expiration brings relief to many US immigrant workers and their American employers, though not without criticism.
Major employment visa categories were affected by the ban — like Hs, Ls, and Js — that are utilized by tech companies as well as healthcare employers. These US companies hire foreign workers to fulfill skills gaps and, at the same time, provide essential services to the public in normal times, let alone during a pandemic when healthcare is stretched thin and remote work is testing the limits of technology infrastructure.
When the ban was issued, it was immediately met with criticism, and soon after, legal challenges. In October 2020, a judge issued a preliminary injunction (NAM et al vs. DHS) on the June 2020 presidential proclamation that issued the nonimmigrant (temporary) visa ban. Where the ban really fell apart was
Unlike his other Trump-era immigration reversals, the decision to let the nonimmigrant visa ban expire came with some criticism from the immigration community. Many believe by just letting it expire instead of reversing the ban, it did little to quash the misconception that guest worker programs take jobs away from American workers and hurt the economy. The opposition and lawsuits challenging the ban in the first place evidenced that the ban was contrarian to its stated purpose.
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