There's good news and bad news.
First, the good news. You're going to have access to the new President on the issue of immigration, if you want it.
President Trump has given CEOs and other corporate chiefs unprecedented opportunities to work directly with him and the White House team. Though Trump has leveled sharp accusations at some companies by name, he has also been quick to bring corporate leaders into the White House and ask for their specific input on policy questions.
In just the first two weeks of his Administration, the President has already hosted West Wing meetings with CEOs from the tech industry, automakers, drug companies, and aerospace and defense executives. On January 23, the President hosted a meeting, arranged by Dow's CEO Andrew Liveris, that included the CEOs of UnderArmour, Dell, , US Steel, , Arconic, , Tesla, , , and others.
The President opened his first meeting by saying "we will have these meetings ... whenever you need them actually, but I would say every quarter." Trump stayed true to his promise on February 3, when he hosted his business advisory council made up of "world class" CEOs to discuss the Administration's future actions on immigration, health care, and the economy.
You can be in that room, if you want to be.
Now the bad news. You're not prepared for the coming meetings on immigration.
As we saw last week, the President rolled out two major policies on immigration - first, the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to deal with illegal border crossing; and second, and more significantly, a sweeping ban on legal visits and migration from refugees and visa holders from seven countries, coupled with a security-based review of vetting procedures. Now reports show the H-1B visa will be targeted next, raising new concerns among American companies.
Among corporate leaders, immigration has traditionally been thought of as an economic issue, one that impacts companies and their ability to recruit employees from a global talent pool. Immigration policy has also been seen as a prism through which we measure our government's commitment to certain values, such as justice, fairness, and compassion — values that we know your employees care about a great deal.
But that is not how President Trump and his advisors view immigration. For this new team, immigration is viewed principally through the lens of counter-terrorism and national security. Accordingly, if you want to be effective in providing input to the Trump team on immigration, you have to advocate on the basis of national security.