Donald Trump becoming the President of the United States was always a matter of worry for non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in the United States because of his stated insular politics and protectionist, anti-immigrant stance. After a marked increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric as well as an uptick in hostility on the ground, now it would seem that some of the other apprehensions of American NRIs seem to have come true.
As many as sixty thousand Indians living and working in the United States may soon become jobless. This is due to a letter from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services which marks a significant change in policy, but which is representative of the Trump administration’s increasingly inward-looking policies.
The letter will effectively terminate jobs because it cancels the work permits that were given to H-4 Visa holders. H-4 visas are given to the spouses of those who are granted H-1B visas by the United States to work there. The Obama administration had permitted H4 visa holders to work in the US, however this permission is canceled by the current administration's new policy. Since H-1B visas are issued to men in an overwhelming majority of cases, 80% of those spouses who lose their jobs will be women.
For a great many Indian women who emigrate to the United States, this will mean a huge loss, not only financially, but also entail a loss of independence, and will make them fully dependent upon their husbands. In a society such as the US, work would often provide a valuable space for social interactions for women who have arrived upon foreign shores from a vastly different culture.
Like the old CCR song goes, it’s been coming for some time. Many Indians working in America saw the writing on the wall long before now. Between December 2016 and March 2017, there was a tenfold increase in the number of Indians living in the US but seeking work in India. The crackdown on skilled workers; particularly IT professions by the Trump administration, was responsible for this. An executive order calling for a review of the whole H1-B program would effectively result in fewer visas being granted to foreign workers. The intentions of the Trump administration are plain to see and many Indians are rethinking their plans of going to the US or are rethinking their plans of staying there.
The CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates have come out in support of the program that permits H4 spouses to work by cofounding FWD.us, a tech lobby group to oppose the new policy along with other leading innovators and entrepreneurs. Such a policy would devastate economic growth, said Gates.
While the Obama administration had allowed H4 spouses to take up employment while waiting for their green card approval to come through, this new regulation will prevent this. Groups such as Save Jobs USA have long campaigned against the program that allowed H4 spouses to work. This is of a piece with the current government's anti-immigrant policy that seeks to make it more and more difficult for non-Americans to get into America, get a job and settle down there. Though there is still time to offer feedback during notice and comment period, the Indian community in the US has expressed its dissatisfaction with the policy and eminent people have come out against it, a policy rollback seems unlikely at this point.
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