The Immigration Accountability Executive Actions: Ramifications For Business

On November 20 and 21, 2014, President Obama announced his plan for executive action on the United States' immigration problems, known as the immigration accountability executive actions. The actions represent the most comprehensive immigration reforms seen in many years. While most attention has been focused on the provisions affecting undocumented aliens, the actions also address issues of interest to businesses, professionals, investors and other highly skilled workers, in particular those covered under the Presidential Memorandum "Modernizing and Streamlining the U.S. Visa System for the 21st Century." The focus of the immigration accountability executive actions is to grow the economy and create jobs for U.S. workers, while allowing U.S. businesses to more readily hire and retain foreign employees.