Vetting of Muslim employees and substantial curbs on immigrant workers are very real possibilities, writes Christi Jackson
The unthinkable happened. The whole of Britain, hot on the heels of the ‘never going to happen’ Brexit vote, was well aware of the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US election. The rest of the world, America included, only seemed to wake up to the possibility once the polls started to close. Many changes can be expected in the coming days and weeks before Trump assumes his new role in January, not least of which will involve businesses examining their options to move employees to (and from) the US.
While Trump has been virtually silent on many areas of his proposed platform, one key agenda item he has consistently promoted is immigration. Granted, much of his touted immigration policy affects undocumented immigrants, which is a long way from the primary concerns of global businesses. However, a substantial portion of his ideas will likely have them thinking twice about the movement of their staff.
Trump began his campaign with a firm stance on immigration. In October, his campaign released his ‘Contract with the American Voter’. In this insightful piece, Trump laid out some of his most prominent plans on immigration, including renegotiating the NAFTA treaty, implementing a suspension of immigration from ‘terror-prone’ regions and cancelling the executive actions taken by President Obama to protect undocumented children from being deported. While some of these policies will not have a direct impact on the movement of UK-based workers to the US, or vice versa, businesses should be aware of some of the possibilities that could affect their employees’ global mobility.
Trump’s promise to ban all Muslims (later toned down to an ‘extreme vetting’ process and suspension of immigration from terror-prone countries) could have an immediate effect on British employees travelling to the US as visitors or transferring to there for temporary employment. The UK’s 2011 Census lists Islam as the second-largest religion in the UK, with more than 2.7 million Muslims living in the country. While it is unclear how exactly Trump’s administration will implement this vetting of travellers, the possibility of a ban based on religion is real and British travellers could most certainly be affected.
Trump’s vow to “put American workers first” is a clear indicator that the importation of foreign talent, whether skilled or unskilled, will not be made a priority under his administration. He has made comments in the past regarding his dislike of the H-1B visa programme, and is a strong advocate against free trade. Put simply, if Trump makes it harder to trade with foreign countries and hire foreign workers, US businesses, and in turn their employees, will feel the effects. Global mobility professionals should plan employee travel and relocation well in advance, and stay apprised of proposed changes to US immigration law to ensure their staffing needs are addressed with potential legislation in mind.
US companies with a foreign presence may see an increase in their employees’ demands to move away from the madness of the US political climate, which could lead to an increased demand for UK organisations to hire foreign workers. With immigration and the hiring of foreign staff a key issue in both countries, it seems a competition could ensue. While the specifics remain unclear, one thing is certain – US and UK businesses will be unravelling from a post-Brexit, post-election uncertainty for a long time, and their foreign workers will be stuck right in the middle.
Christi Jackson is an attorney and head of the US practice at Laura Devine Solicitors in London