The Trump Administration issued its formal proposal to rescind the International Entrepreneur Rule, a regulation designed to allow entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses in the U.S. This rule allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use clear and careful criteria to identify, on a case-by-case basis, entrepreneurs who would provide significant benefits to the U.S.

Refer to DHS announcement (link)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing a rule to end a program that allows certain foreign entrepreneurs to be considered for parole to temporarily come to the United States to develop and build start-up businesses here, known as the International Entrepreneur Rule (IE Final Rule). 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”.

Entrepreneurs and tech media is opinionated on the announcement:

According to INC magazine “The rescission of the International Entrepreneur Rule will deprive the U.S. of the opportunity to incubate great innovation and, more importantly, thousands of new jobs. Last year, the New American Economy immigration coalition found that, at a minimum, the IER would create 135,000 jobs over 10 years, with the potential to create more than 300,000.”

According to CNN: The program was slated to begin in June 2017, but it never really got off of the ground. The Trump administration delayed its launch just days before it was set to begin. Then in September, the National Venture Capital Association and startup founders sued the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that the agency didn’t follow proper “notice-and-comment” procedures before delaying the rule

Silicon Republic adds “Critics of the decision to rescind the rule, such as FWD.us, warn that it will mean fewer immigrants and fewer new American jobs. “Eliminating this vital policy is a clear step in the wrong direction that will hurt job creation and middle-class wage growth in the US,” it warned. In economic nerve centres such as Silicon Valley, where it is estimated that two-thirds of workers come from outside the US, these Trump-era policies could prove disastrous in the long run.”