Australians living in the US have called on the Turnbull government to demand tolerance and evidence-based policy-making from Donald Trump's White House, amid concerns from employers that foreign workers could be targeted in a sweeping review of visa rules.
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Speculation exists among immigration experts that Mr Trump will direct the Homeland Security, Labor and State Departments to review employment-based categories, potentially hitting thousands of Australians with work and study visas.
Australians could be affected by any changes to the E3 specialty occupation visa, established by the George W. Bush administration specifically for Australians and available to 10,500 people each year.
One US recruiter has told clients a draft executive order being considered by Mr Trump would direct a wholesale review of a range of popular visas to assess whether foreign workers are disadvantaging American citizens, with possible restrictions to student visas also being considered.
Mr Trump's chaotic first two weeks has prompted more than 225 Australians living across 15 states of the US to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, calling on the federal government to publicly endorse values including trade, respect for institutions, independent media and freedom from discrimination as part of the Australia-US relationship.
Signatories include Australian employees of Facebook, Google, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group and PwC, as well students at leading universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, the University of California, Columbia, and New York University.
Matt Tyler, a public policy masters student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said many Australians were alarmed by Mr Trump's actions and rhetoric and hoped the federal government would use political and diplomatic representation to push back on infringements by the administration.
"In the midst of rapid changes, there is a risk that behaviours undermining the fabric of society and democracy are normalised," he said.
"To prevent this, a set of fundamental values are a useful starting point. As Australians at the coalface of changes playing out in the US, we are in a unique position to ask the Australian government to publicly clarify the values underpinning the US-Australia relationship.
"There is fear and uncertainty regarding the status of visas. Some are concerned that the E3 visa will be caught up in a review of the broader H1B visa although there has been no indication from Washington as to whether this is the case."
Karissa Domondon, chief of staff at clean technology start-up Global Thermostat in New York, said answers were needed from both governments.
"I've received numerous questions from Australians in my network about possible changes to foreign worker visas, but we can't say anything for certain. This ambiguity has created some unease.
"I moved to the US at a time when there was still significant optimism around the Paris 2015 climate agreement. The depth of climate change entrepreneurship [and] public debate on climate change has been eye-opening, but I'm concerned about climate change action being put on the back-burner," she said.
