Trump's H-1B Visa Crackdown Is Bad News for Dallas-Fort Worth's Booming Job Market

The Dallas-Fort Worth region creates so many new jobs, averaging over 100,000 annually over the last five years, that it has to rely on outsiders to fill 'em.California, New York and Illinois have provided a steady stream of newcomers for decades. Mexico, India and China are major contributors, too. Together, domestic and international migrants account for nearly half of the Texas workforce.Another piece of the puzzle is the H-1B visa program, the nation’s largest temporary employment plan — and another source of strength for D-FW.The program allows companies to hire foreign-born workers with specialized skills and high levels of education. H-1B visas are for three years and can be extended for another three-year term, and they can be a path to permanent residency.They’re used primarily for technology workers, but universities, engineering firms and public schools depend on them, too. Dallas ISD has over 250 bilingual teachers on H-1Bs, and officials are going to Mexico next week to recruit more.Employers in Dallas-Fort Worth were awarded 74,000 H-1B visas from 2010 to 2016, the second-most in the nation, according to the Pew Research Center. The largest metro, which includes New York, Newark and Jersey City, had over three times more H-1Bs.But Dallas had more of the visas than Washington, Boston and San Jose, which are often hailed as tech talent centers.  Continue reading...