DHS proposed in a statement today that the agency eliminate the International Entrepreneur Rule (IE Final Rule) program that enables foreign nationals to bypass certain immigration procedures and move to the U.S. to build or invest in start-up businesses. Under the current IE Final Rule, the DHS secretary has authority to parole foreign nationals into the U.S. and grant them authorization to work in the country for "significant public benefits."
The agency stated that the Obama-era program fails to provide protections for American workers and investors and that it interprets parole authority too broadly.
"DHS is now proposing to eliminate the IE Final Rule because the department believes that it represents an overly broad interpretation of parole authority, lacks sufficient protections for U.S. workers and investors, and is not the appropriate vehicle for attracting and retaining international entrepreneurs.
"By statute, DHS has discretionary authority to parole individuals into the United States temporarily, on a case-by-case basis, for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. After reviewing DHS parole programs in accordance with the Executive Order titled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, issued on Jan. 25, 2017, DHS is proposing to remove regulations published as part of the IE Final Rule. DHS concluded that the IE Final Rule created a complex and highly-structured program that was best established by the legislative process rather than relying on an unorthodox use of the Secretary's authority to 'temporarily' parole, in a categorical way, aliens based on 'significant public benefit'.
"The Immigration and Nationality Act already provides for visa classifications that enable certain entrepreneurs to start businesses and work in the United States, such as the E-2 nonimmigrant classification and the EB-5 immigrant classification. DHS is committed to reviewing all existing employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs to ensure program integrity and protect the interests of U.S. investors and workers."
DHS issued a final rule last July to push the start date of the IE Final Rule to March 14, 2018, in order to provide the department with enough time to draft a rescission of the program. But, five months later, a federal court ordered USCIS to start accepting parole applications for the program.
For more on this story, see The Washington Times.
