Why Silicon Valley Needs Immigration
Katie Drummond: I have to shop at a specialized hat store. Because my head isn’t actually… I can’t wear it.
Lauren Good: What is this shop called?
Katie Drummond: I can’t wear a regular hat.
Lauren Good: Is it called a bob bull hat?
Katie Drummond: No, I’m going to look into it. It’s from a strange hat. The last hat I bought was called the Big Running Hat. Just a big running hat.
Lauren Good: Are there any of them called big walking hats?
Katie Drummond: probably. probably.
Lauren Good: oh.
Michael Heat: Ah, that’s too much.
Lauren Good: Okay.
Michael Heat: Should we enter it?
Katie Drummond: Let’s do it.
Lauren Good: Let’s do it.
Michael Heat: This is wired The eerie valleya show about the people, power and influence of Silicon Valley. Today we talk about the Trump administration’s policies on immigration and the effectiveness of those policies poised to extend across the tech industry. Day one of the current administrative immigration policies has been overhauled, the asylum process has been effectively closed, the ambiguous alien enemy law has been called to deport hundreds of people, and birthright citizenship is being challenged by the U.S. Supreme Court. Visas are subject to increased scrutiny. Wired recently reported how the H-1B visa application process has become hostile, saying last week the administration will be revoking student visas for Chinese students currently studying in US schools. So today we’re jumping at the impact these changes will have on the tech industry, from the talent pipeline to future innovations. I’m Michael Calore, Director of Consumer Technology and Culture at Wired.
Lauren Good: I’m Lauren Good. I am a senior correspondent at Wired.
Katie Drummond: And I’m Katie Drummond, global editorial director at Wired.
Michael Heat: I want to start by focusing on how the Trump administration has handled student visas. Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration would be “actively” revoked for Chinese students. The State Department said it will not only focus on students in key areas and those with ties to the Communist Party of China, but will only strengthen scrutiny across the board in general. Ambiguity in these guidelines sent students, parents and universities into emotional tailspin. What do you do with these latest developments?
Lauren Good: So, there were actually two orders we went out last week, and I’m sure we’re going to hear more, but I think both are worth noting. The first was that directives were sent to US embassies around the world to suspend new interviews with visas for students and visitors, which also included F, M and J visas until notification. And the idea was to prepare for an expanded social media screening and screening. Essentially, the Department of State will consider it much more closely to students’ online, social media activities and consider it as part of the interview process to apply for a visa to the US. It was already part of the application process, but now it’s just expanding. I really don’t know what that means. The other was the revocation of the visa for Chinese students, like you said, Mike. And I think what this really is doing is clearly hoping that the current administration will have the advantage in this current Cold War, whether it be tariffs or measures like this. And what I reported on Wired is that if this continues and the court allows it, this all has a major impact on higher education, as almost a quarter of the US international student population is from China. Also, this is something that many people don’t realize. Personally, I didn’t realize this until I started researching more. International students pay full tuition when coming to the US for many universities. In general, I think targeting students under a particular nationality for these national security reasons is a dangerous area. I have doubts about how effective it is, but I have also doubts how this could undermine the US technology sector in the long term.