President-electTrump has spent much of the last few weeks vetting potential cabinetmembers. Many of the higher profilepositons have been named, such as Attorney General (AlabamaRepublican Senator Jeff Sessions) , Secretary of Defense (Ret.Gen. James Mattis), and UN Ambassador (SouthCarolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley). It is expected that he will name a Secretary of State shortly.
The President-electhas not yet tipped his hand on who will be the Secretary of the Department ofHomeland Security. The DHS secretarypositon is important because this positon sets DHS policy interpretations forH-1Bs and other employment-based nonimmigrant visas and employment-based greencards.
Two candidates seemto be leading the race to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security:Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Texas Rep. Mike McCaul. The bettingmarkets have Kobach slightly ahead. While the betting markets are good indicators, they are notguarantees of future outcomes.
Rep. McCaulprobably would be the better choice for employment-based immigrants andemployers. In the mid-2000s, Rep. McCaulco-sponsoredand supported several bills aimed at increasing the H-1B cap and increaseemployment-based green cards. On theother hand, many immigration hardlinersfavor Kobach.