In this photo taken on March 13, 2014, from left, Alfonso Casares Tafur, Bernardo Montes-Rodriguez, Elizabeth Nino de Rivera and Francisco Javier Marcano pose at the offices of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program in Dallas. They were among the teachers recruited under Garland Independent School District’s H-1B visa program, which is now under federal investigation. AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Evans Caglage
• Rule affects 100,000 H-1B visa holders trained science, tech, engineering, math
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants to let some spouses of high-skilled immigrants work in the United States.
A proposed rule change to let spouses of H-1B visa-holders work is the latest in a series of immigration policy changes brought forward by the administration.
Immigration advocates have been pushing President Barack Obama to make substantive changes to immigration laws, including halting all deportations until and unless Congress acts on a comprehensive immigration bill. The proposed rule announced Tuesday does not impact deportations.
The rule affects as many as 100,000 visa-holders trained in science, technology, engineering and math. The so-called H-1B visas for high-skilled workers are among the most sought after by high tech firms.
The 85,000 H-1B visas available for 2015 were gobbled up in just one week.