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nORTH AMERICAn newsline DECEMBER 25, 2020 | The Indian Eye 22
60 LaWmaKers, INCLUDINg samosa
CaUCUs, Urge BIDeN to reNeW H4
sPoUses’ WorK PermIts
Our Bureau the home has taken research- described depression and isola- these changes has been the
Washington, DC ers, physicians and other high- tion in moving to a new country H-1B visa program, which al-
A outside of the home,” it said. including doctors and nurses,
ly-skilled roles offline while
and not being allowed to work lows highly-skilled immigrants,
group of 60 US House also adding new financial bur-
“Unfortunately, these women to live and work in the US, they
members has urged dens for these families, it says.
President-elect
Joe “We respectfully request that
This has greatly increased
lose their jobs until this is put
Biden to unilaterally extend the Department of Homeland are losing and will continue to noted.
the validity of work permits of Security publish a Federal Reg- right, disrupting the lives of their the difficulty of obtaining an
H4 visa holders, a majority of ister notice on day one of your families and the functioning H-1B visa – simultaneously
whom are spouses of Indian administration that would ex- of employers in our districts.” hampering H4 visa holders and
H-1B visa holders. The plea tend the validity period of all The legal immigration sys- applicants, they added.
was made in a letter signed expired H4 EADs,” the law- tem has been severely harmed Overall, 93 percent of cur-
among others by all four Indian makers wrote. by Trump administration pol- rent H-4EAD holders are
American lawmakers — Ami “In 2015…the Department icies, the lawmakers stated South Asian women, accord-
Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krish- of Homeland Security (DHS) noting the US Customs and ing to South Asian Americans
namoorthi and Pramila Jayap- issued a rule allowing certain Immigration Services (USCIS) Leading Together. On average,
al, jointOther key signatories H4 dependent spouses of H-1B currently has a backlog of ap- H-4EAD holders surveyed for
include congresswomen Bon- visa holders to legally seek em- proximately 2.5 million cases, a report published last year
nie Watson Coleman, Rashida ployment in the US.” the highest net backlog in near- by the South Asian American
Talib, Barbara Lee and Judy “This rule presented an im- ly two decades. Policy and Research Institute
Chu. Changes made during portant step towards rectifying Much of the growth in the faced a four-year employment
President Donald Trump’s ten- gender disparities in our immi- case backlog at USCIS has gap in the US, not including
ure to the way employment au- gration system, as around 95% been caused by policy changes the length of time it would take
thorization documents are pro- of H4 visa holders who have se- that have increased the amount to obtain a job after receiving
cessed have led to months-long cured work authorizations are of time it takes to process forms the H-4EAD and assuming the
delays, the letter points out. women,” the letter stated. and issue visas, the lawmakers H-4 visa holder did not obtain
Loss of, or inability to se- “Before the rule was grant- pointed out. an employment visa during
cure, employment outside of ed, many women on H4 visas A tremendous target of that time.
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