'US Needs Smart People': LinkedIn, Coursera Founders Slam New Green Card Rule

The Trump administration's new policy that requires green card seekers to make their applications from their home country has triggered a backlash from the US IT sector. The founders of many technology companies, including LinkedIn and Coursera, have criticised the move and called it "harmful" for the United States in general.

Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, questioned the move, saying, "Does this mean AI Researchers, employees, and students will now have to leave the country and wait through a backlog process to continue their work?"

In the same post, he added, "harmful move for tech, business, and America broadly".

Does this mean AI Researchers, employees, and students will now have to leave the country and wait through a backlog process to continue their work?

Harmful move for tech, business, and America broadly... https://t.co/bfumkDCjJK

— Reid Hoffman (@reidhoffman) May 22, 2026

Andrew Ng, the cofounder of Coursera, said that asking the Green Card applicants to apply from their home countries is a "capricious attack" on legal immigration. He noted that the decision is bound to hurt families and will leave the country with fewer doctors, teachers and scientists. He said that America's competitiveness in artificial intelligence will be "hurt".

The new White House policy requiring green card applicants to apply from outside the US is a capricious attack on legal immigration. It will hurt families, leave us with fewer doctors, teachers and scientists, and hurt American competitiveness in AI.

— Andrew Ng (@AndrewYNg) May 22, 2026

The founder of tech startup Y Combinator, Garry Tan, called the policy "bad and misguided". He said that the US needs "smart people" in the country to build the future and businesses.

We need to keep smart people in the country to build the future and build tomorrow's businesses that employ millions of people

This is bad and misguided policy https://t.co/gyKRuErwOQ

— Garry Tan (@garrytan) May 22, 2026

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a memo last week reiterating that students and temporary workers come to the country for a short time and that their visit should not function as "the first step in the Green Card process".

USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement that "this policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes. When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency."

The USCIS has said it would grant green cards to people inside the country only in extraordinary circumstances.