WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 25, 2018) — A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement Tuesday said the agency is proposing a rule to end the International Entrepreneur Rule (IE Final Rule), 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 in the United States.
In July 2017, DHS published a final rule to delay the implementation date of the IE Final Rule to March 14, 2018, to give the Department time to draft a rescission of the IE Final Rule. U.S. District Judge James Emanuel Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, vacated the delay rule in December, requiring USCIS to begin accepting international entrepreneur parole applications consistent with the IE Final Rule. In his opinion, Judge Boasberg said none of the consequences of the examples presented by DHS justified a stay of the IE Final Rule.
The DHS is now proposing to eliminate the IE Final Rule by claiming it represents an overly broad interpretation of parole authority and is not the appropriate vehicle for attracting and retaining international entrepreneurs. The DHS also claims the IE Final Rule lacks sufficient protections for U.S. workers and investors.
Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of the National Venture Capitalist Association, said in an announcement Tuesday that the DHS is short-sighted and its decision would in effect turn away American jobs that would otherwise be created by the International Entrepreneur Rule.
“The facts are clear: our country needs more entrepreneurship, which is exactly what the International Entrepreneur Rule would bring,” Franklin said. “We will continue to explain to the administration why immigrant entrepreneurship benefits our country and must be supported by policymakers.”
DHS claims it 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. DHS claims that under parole programs in accordance with the Executive Order titled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, issued on Jan. 25, 2017, it can propose to remove regulations published as part of the IE Final Rule. DHS claims that the IE Final Rule is a complex program that should be established by the legislative process rather than allowing the DHS Secretary the authority to temporarily parole international applicants based on significant public benefit.
The DHS claims the Immigration and Nationality Act provides for visa classifications that enable certain entrepreneurs to start businesses and work in the United States, such as the E-2 nonimmigrant classification and the EB-5 immigrant classification. DHS claims it is committed to reviewing employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs to ensure program integrity and to protect the interests of U.S. investors and workers.
