Statement by Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley on Executive Order on Work Visa Restrictions
Research!America is disappointed that even as COVID-19 continues to threaten lives, jeopardize businesses and jobs, and stymie desperately needed medical progress across our nation, the Trump Administration has chosen to perpetuate roadblocks to longstanding visa programs that help catalyze life-saving research and job-producing economic growth.
The president’s executive order compounds disruptions to science on the cusp of unprecedented solutions for individuals battling cancer and other deadly and debilitating diseases. Its effects transcend biomedical research and threaten to impede scientific progress in countless areas crucial to our nation’s leadership from engineering to computing. Further, the order sends an inimical message to young students, despite our nation’s long history of encouraging young people — regardless of whether they are in our nation because of a visa or not — to pursue and achieve their dreams.
U.S. visa policy should honor, not undercut American values and objectives. The president’s executive order simply does not meet this standard.