The Trump Administration’s Anti-Immigration and Anti-DEI Campaigns Will Expand and Evolve – With Talent Consequences for Large Companies

The policy landscape: The Administration will ratchet up its campaign against all forms of immigration, while the EEOC’s war on DEI is only beginning.

• After surviving a recent legal challenge, the new $100k fee for new H-1B visas will go into effect this year, along with a proposed new lottery system that will give more spots for petitions for jobs with higher wages (as opposed to one spot per petition).
• The Department of Labor and the EEOC have both announced new initiatives to target employers for alleged H-1B visa abuse.
• After finally gaining a quorum at the end of 2025, expect the EEOC to build and expand on the Administration’s anti-DEI initiatives, including: 
  • Investigations into and enforcement against companies using DEI practices, with a particular focus on discrimination against white men.
  • A new focus on religious discrimination and “anti-American” discrimination.

Practical impacts: the Administration’s stances on immigration and DEI will make it more difficult for employers to attract, retain, and develop talent.

• The major changes to employer-sponsored immigration will make it much more costly – and potentially more difficult – to use H-1B talent, and will require employers to rethink their foreign talent strategies.  
• Heightened scrutiny of existing H-1B visa holders and the companies at which they work will add further pressure.
• Immigration raids – expected to increase in 2026 – make effective I-9 compliance paramount, and may create anxiety for employees.  
• Continued and increasing pressure to end DEI initiatives may restrict talent development pipelines and create culture upheaval within companies – effective communication with employees and a forward-looking talent strategy are vital.