A proclamation by US President Donald Trump ‘suspending’ till the end of the current year a number of popular non-immigrant visas including the H-1B, H-4, H-2B visa, J and L visas has sent shock waves across the world, especially in India.
The White House later said the proclamation is part of the ‘America first recovery’ effort of Trump as he is expanding the suspension of certain visas through the end of the year to ensure American workers take first priority as the country recovers from the economic effects of the coronavirus.
Noting that Trump is extending the pause on new immigrant visas through the end of the year to ensure that the US continues putting American workers first during the ongoing coronavirus recovery, the White House said the President is building on this measure with an additional pause on several job-related non-immigrant visas H-1Bs, H-2Bs without a nexus to the food-supply chain, certain H-4s, as well as Ls and certain Js preserving jobs for American citizens.
Asserting that this will ensure businesses look to American workers first when hiring, the White House said that many workers have been hurt through no fault of their own due to coronavirus and they should not remain on the sidelines while being replaced by new foreign labour.
According to the White House, the Trump administration has also finalised regulations to eliminate the incentive to file an asylum application for the primary purpose of obtaining an employment authorisation document.
With some exceptions, we should not permit large numbers of foreign workers to enter the United States at a time when so many Americans are out of work. The White House asserted that American people stand by Trump as he takes commonsense action to preserve jobs for American citizens.
“Polls show that the overwhelming majority of Americans support pausing immigration as we recover as a nation from the coronavirus pandemic,” it said.
Many including Google CEO Sunder Pichai has expressed disappointment over the proclamation issued by US President. Being able to attract the best and the brightest through the H1-B visa programme has made America more successful and resilient. It is a win-win deal that benefited both the US and the migrants.