Lawmakers, professionals criticize Proposal as harmful for America

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. It is typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker. But H-1B holders who have begun the green card process can often renew their work visas indefinitely.

HIGHLIGHTS

• H-1B visa issued for 3-6 years to employers to hire a foreign worker
• US move could affect hundreds of thousands of foreign workers
• Proposal a part of Donald Trump‘s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative

WASHINGTON (TIP): US is considering new regulations aimed at preventing the extension of H-1B visas, predominantly used by Indian IT professionals, as part of president Donald Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, a media report has said.

The move could directly stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from keeping their H-1B visas while their green card applications are pending.

The proposal, which is being shared between the Department of Homeland Security Department (DHS) heads, is part of President Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” initiative promised during the 2016 campaign, US-based news agency McClatchy’s DC Bureau reported.

It aims to impose new restrictions to prevent abuse and misuse of H-1B visas, besides ending the provision of granting extension for those who already have a green card.

“The act currently allows the administration to extend the H-1B visas for thousands of immigrants, predominantly Indian immigrants, beyond the allowed two three-year terms if a green card is pending,” the report said.

“The idea is to create a sort of ‘self- deportation‘ of hundreds of thousands of Indian tech workers in the United States to open up those jobs for Americans,” it said, quoting a source briefed by Homeland Security officials.

“The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment-based visa programs,” said Jonathan Withington, chief of media relations for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

It is typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker. But H-1B holders who have begun the green card process can often renew their work visas indefinitely.

The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The proposed changes would have a dramatic effect particularly on Indian visa holders considering more than half of all H-1B visas have been awarded to Indian nationals, the report said, quoting the Pew Research Center report.

“This would be a major catastrophic development as many people have been waiting in line for green cards for over a decade, have US citizen children, own a home,” said Leon Fresco, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department in the Obama administration who now represent H-1B workers.

Fresco estimates more than 1 million H1-B visa holders in the country are waiting for green cards, many of whom are from India and have been waiting for more than a decade.

Software body Nasscom has flagged its concerns over visa-related issues and has taken it up with Senators, Congressmen and the administration. “That formulation has conditions which are extremely onerous and makes it very difficult for people to not just get the visa but also on how they can be used,” R Chandrashekhar, President, National Association for Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) told PTI.

Influential Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said: “Imposing these draconian restrictions on H-1B visa holders will tear families apart, drain our society of talent and expertise, and damage our relationship with an important partner, India.

“This proposal could lead to the deportation of an estimated 500,000 to 750,000 Indian H-1B visa holders, many of whom are small business owners and job creators who are helping to build and strengthen our US economy. his brain drain will stifle innovation and decrease our ability to compete in the global 21st century economy,” Gabbard said.

In a statement the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) sounded alarm over the Trump administration‘s proposal to deny extensions of H-1B visas to green card applicants and leaving them with no choice but to return to the country of origin or be deported.

“It’s a baffling calculation. How would deporting hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, the very backbone of our STEM industries, in any way advance an ‘America First’ agenda?” Shukla asked.

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said while priority must continue to be improving advanced training for domestic workforce, ending H-1B visa extensions would kneecap American economy and encourage companies to further offshore jobs, instead of making those investments here.

“I hope the administration immediately rejects this proposal,” he said.

Congressman Ro Khanna said the proposal was “anti- immigrant”.

“My parents came here on green cards. So did @sundarpichai, @elonmusk, @satyanadella. Trump is saying to immigrants and their kids we don’t have a place in America. It’s not just wrong. It’s dumb. Mr President, would America really be greater without us?” he asked in a tweet.

According to Aman Kapoor of Immigration Voice, H-1B extension change would be just wrong at every level.

“It will be a catastrophe of epic proportion for Indian- American community leading to mass exodus of close to 1.5 million people (around 750,000 primary applicants on H-1B visa and another 750,000+ spouses and children),” he said.

Tsion Chudnovsky, an immigration and business lawyer in California said: “Given the dramatic effect this proposal could have on the Technology industry, it doesn’t seem likely it could garner enough support to be enacted as stated.”