This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Six years ago, restaurateur Mike Chen traveled to his hometown here seeking spiritual guidance about whether he should open a noodle-pulling restaurant in Pittsburgh.

Dressed in shorts, running shoes and a button-down shirt, he joined an open-air congregation in the tropical heat at the Buddhist temple Hsing Tian Kong, a pagoda among high-rises in the Zhongshan District. Devoted to Guan Yu, the patron god of business, it is a destination for believers seeking guidance in their business decisions.

While a monk chanted, Mr. Chen cupped a pair of crescent-shaped moon blocks in prayer. He silently asked for direction: Should he open a restaurant in Squirrel Hill where diners could see hand-pulled noodles and soup dumplings as they’re made?

Then Mr. Chen raised his hands above his head and tossed the blocks to the ground three times. Each time they landed, they indicated — with one rounded side, yin, and the other flat side, yang, face up — yes. Mr. Chen gave thanks.

A year later, in February 2013, Mr. Chen opened Everyday Noodles on Forbes Avenue. It offered an open kitchen where Taiwanese cooks hand-pull noodles and make purse-like soup dumplings held together with 18 intricate folds.

Today, he says it has been his most successful restaurant. Of the 12 he has opened in his 30 years as a restaurateur, it’s one of two still operating. The other is his first: China Palace in Monroeville, which he opened Aug. 8, 1988 — a lucky date, with the number 8 associated with wealth and fortune in Chinese culture.

With luck comes challenge. In the case of Everyday Noodles, Mr. Chen’s challenge has been finding Taiwanese staff who know how to hand-pull noodles and assemble soup dumplings, skills that typically take years to master.

Hiring international workers with H-1B visas solved Mr. Chen’s problem at first. He now has new problems that are affecting his ability to hire cooks. The Trump administration overhauled immigration policies, tightening eligibility. The changes are being carried out by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

In April, USCIS announced it reached the congressionally mandated 85,000 H-1B visa cap for fiscal year 2019, according to the agency website. The cap was met within five days — with over 190,000 applications received, less than past years, according to USCIS — which activated a lottery system. Specialized restaurant work generally no longer qualifies for an H-1B visa.

Mr. Chen’s experiences are an example of how these policies are affecting the Pittsburgh area: They are shrinking already small immigrant communities and stagnating the labor pool.

Outside of the universities, historically, few immigrants have settled in Pittsburgh since the decline of the steel industry. The city has one of the lowest numbers of immigrants among the top 50 U.S. metro areas, according to the U.S. census, though it has crept up to 8.5 percent of the population since 2012.

Even if more international students want to stay past graduation to work in Pittsburgh, local companies that would hire graduates aren’t always equipped or motivated to navigate the visa process that has gotten more challenging under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Looking ahead, Mr. Chen wants to find a way to legally hire foreign nationals with specialized skills. He’s not alone — employers in growing fields such as tech, health care and education would concur.

Inspiration