Page 20 - The Indian EYE 010121

NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline JANUARY 01, 2021 | The Indian Eye 20

Parting KicK:

trump makes life and career difficult

for h-1B visa aspirants

us President donald extends suspension of employment visa programs till march;

biden may find it tough to revoke the move

n executive order der. “As you recognized over
signed by President the summer, these effects are
ADonald Trump in June, exacerbated by an immigra-
suspending the H-1B and other tion system that operates on
employment visa programs till autopilot, allowing millions
the end of the year, has been of legal immigrants and guest
extended through March. workers to come in and com-
The extension of the order pete for jobs,” Dan Stein, pres-
by the lame duck president, ident of FAIR, wrote in a let-
who has less than three weeks ter. “We cannot return to this
remaining in office, is intended deeply-flawed normal anytime
to create a headache for the in- soon.”
coming Biden administration. President-elect Joe Biden, a
The freeze on various cat- Democrat, has promised to lift
egories of work visas was or- the suspension on H-1B visas,
dered by Trump through two saying Trump’s immigration
proclamations on April 22 and policies are cruel.
June 22 last year. Hours before US media commented that
the freeze was set to expire on Trump’s decision was yet an-
December 31, Trump issued an- ing national concern, and the hundreds of thousands of for- other example of how his ad-
other proclamation on Thurs- considerations present in the eigners looking to work in this ministration is trying to box
day to extend it until March two previous proclamations country “will continue to have Biden in on challenging policy
31, ensuring that his sweeping have not been eliminated. to wait until at least the end of matters.
limits on legal immigration will “The 2019 Novel Coronavirus March before having another It is not clear whether Biden
remain in place when Presi- (COVID-19) continues to sig- chance to attain coveted visas will be able to rescind the order
dent-elect Joe Biden is sworn nificantly disrupt Americans’ to enter the country.” immediately.
in on January 20. livelihoods. While the Novem- During the campaign, Biden
The continuation of the re- ber overall unemployment rate In september us district had said he would support issu-
strictions, which comes with in the United States of 6.7 per ing more H-1B visas for highly
just 20 days left in the Repub- cent reflects a marked decline Court for the district of skilled foreigners who typical-
lican President’s term, is the from its April high, there were Columbia amit P. mehta ly come to the U.S. to work in
latest effort to bar the entry of still 9,834,000 fewer seasonally tech, science and engineering.
immigrants to the US. adjusted nonfarm jobs in No- rejected challenges to the But David Bier at the Cato
Restricting immigration has vember than in February of bans, leaving them almost Institute, according to Market
been a focus of the Trump ad- 2020,” Trump said in his proc- Place, said that because immi-
ministration since its first days lamation. entirely intact. It was even- gration policy is so politically
when it issued the travel ban on “Moreover, actions such as tually suspended the next divisive, he isn’t confident the
seven Muslim-majority coun- States’ continued imposition of Biden administration will be
tries, and it has continued into restrictions on businesses still month by a us district able to follow through.
Trump’s final year in office as affect the number of workers court in early october. “This is the one area of
the White House uses the coro- that can be hired as compared immigration policy where the
navirus pandemic as cover. with February of 2020,” Trump Biden team has put out sort of
President Trump said that said, adding that his latest On Thursday, the day the a lukewarm statement about
the effects of COVID-19 on proclamation may be extended executive order is set to expire, his views on work visas, partic-
the US labour market and the if necessary. the Federation for American ularly high-skilled work visas,”
health of American commu- The NPR reported that Immigration Reform (FAIR) Bier said, as quoted by Market
nities are a matter of ongo- the extension would result in urged Trump to extend the or- Place.

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