US asked to halt issuance of H1-B visa to Indians till cap on green card is removed

An influential immigration rights advocacy group has called on US President Joe Biden to stop issuing new H1-B Visas to Indian nationals until the “discriminatory” cap on lawful permanent residency or Green Cards is removed. This comes in response to the Biden administration’s decision to allow employers of H-1B visa holders to begin registering online for the H1-B Visa lottery, starting March 9, 2021. Immigration Voice urged the US government to stop issuing new H-1B visas to Indian nationals until the arbitrary cap on the number of Indians who can receive lawful permanent residency is removed because it has created a backlog of over 1 million people waiting for Green Cards with a wait time of 195 years.

Immigration Voice argued that the cap on Green Cards is targeted against Indian nationals, calling it a “100% Indian Exclusion Act.” The group said that the rule implies a de facto ban on employment-based Green Cards for any new Indian national entering the United States on an H-1B visa.

Aman Kapoor, president, Immigration voice says, “As we speak, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service tells us that this discriminatory and arbitrary cap on the number of Indian nationals who can receive lawful permanent residency each year has created a backlog of over 1 million people waiting for Green Cards, with a wait time of over 195 years. In fiscal year 2030, the line is expected to grow to 436 years. A majority of the Green Card backlog consists of women and children, who will eventually die in these backlogs. Needless to say, the per-country limits on the employment-based green card system are, in fact, 100%, an “Indian Exclusion Act.” In reality, this implies a de facto ban on employment-based Green Cards for any new Indian national entering the United States on an H-1B visa. It means that if Vice-President Kamala Harris’ mother had come to the United States today, under such a system, she would never have gotten a Green Card in her lifetime. The course of Shyamala Gopalan’s daughter’s life would have been entirely different if she had been preoccupied with her mother’s possible deportation, as opposed to living her life as an American.”

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