The Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday that they will be adding an additional 15,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural visas for the fiscal year, calling on Congress to make needed immigration reforms.
Why it matters: The visa cap was expanded last year by 15,000 in what was stressed as a "one-time increase." However, this raise was expected after Congress gave authority to DHS to raise the limit on these particular visas in it's omnibus spending bill passed earlier this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for "trade peace" and lamented the lack of consistency on international agreements from successive U.S. administrations at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, per Bloomberg.
The trend: It wasn't just Putin. Interestingly, French President Emmanuel Macron attended the forum, and said he wanted to rebuild trust with Russia. He criticized Trump's Jerusalem embassy move, suggested Trump only left the Iran deal because it was negotiated by his predecessor, and noted that no one had followed the U.S. out the door in the Paris climate deal. IMF chief Christine Lagarde pushed for a return to multilateralism, while Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan suggested the world needs to fight against protectionism and stop politicizing trade issues.
The Department of Homeland Security has officially proposed cancelling the International Entrepreneur Rule, which allows foreign entrepreneurs to legally stay in the U.S. to build their companies, provided they meet a host of business requirements.
The big picture: This decision was long expected, but many in the tech community see it as another hurdle in attracting the best talent to the U.S. "This decision to get rid of the International Entrepreneur Rule sends a chilling message to entrepreneurs and investors around the world that America doesn’t need or want them," TechNet President and CEO Linda Moore said in a statement.
Four former staffers of Rep. Tom Garrett (R-VA) say he and his wife, Flanna, used them as servants and were often told to run personal errands for them, reports Politico.
The details: Aides say they were often made to pick up clothing, care for the family dog, go grocery shopping, chauffeur Garrett's daughters and other trivial tasks outside of their job descriptions — fearing that if they didn't obey their careers would be in jeopardy. Matt Missen, spokesman for Garrett, told Politico the congressman feels no need to respond to "anonymous, unfounded allegations."
On balance, the people who run U.S. companies like the Age of Trump, The Economist writes in its cover story.
The big picture: "Bosses reckon that the value of tax cuts, deregulation and potential trade concessions from China outweighs the hazy costs of weaker institutions and trade wars."
Congressional leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties were briefed Thursday on the FBI's use of an informant in 2016, after the White House received backlash for not initially inviting Democrats to view the confidential information.
The VIPs: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Trump's Special Counsel Emmet Flood helped "facilitate" the meetings, and visited the Justice Department and Capitol Hill to offer opening remarks, according to a statement from the White House. However, neither were in the room when the classified information was disclosed.
During an exclusive interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" this morning, President Trump addressed North Korean denuclearization, saying that he’d be open to the idea of a more gradual process: “We are going to see. I would like to have it done immediately. Physically, a phase-in may be a little bit necessary. It would have to be a rapid phase-in.”
And now for something completely different: Trump also said that he approved of the NFL's decision to require players on the field to stand for the national anthem, adding that those who don't "maybe...shouldn’t be in the country."
