On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, which seeks to create higher wages and employment rates for U.S. workers and to protect their economic interests by rigorously enforcing and administering our immigration laws. It also directs DHS, in coordination with other agencies, to advance policies to help ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid beneficiaries.
USCIS provides an update on its implementation of Executive Order Buy American and Hire American, stating it is “working on a combination of rulemaking, policy memoranda, and operational changes to implement the Buy American and Hire American Executive Order.”
USCIS also provided statistics on H-1B filings from FY2007 to FY2017, as well as data on approved H-1B petitions for FY2015 and FY2016. Also posted statistics on approved employment authorization documents, broken down by basis for eligibility and statutory eligibility.