Democratic presidential candidate and former US president, Joe Biden have promised to withdraw the H1-B visa suspension if he wins the 2020 US elections this year.
In June 2020, the Trump administration suspended H1-B visas along with other types of work visas till the end of 2020. This was suspected to be a move to protect American workers, this election year.
The H1-B visa allows US companies to employ foreign workers in areas that require specific technical expertise. The US companies employ tens of thousands of employees from countries like India and China, every year. It is the most sought-after visa, primarily by the Indian IT professionals.
Joe Biden’s address at the Digital Town Hall Meeting on Asian American and Pacific Islander issues
In his digital meeting, organized by NBC news, Joe praised the contribution of H1-B visa holders after referring to the temporary suspension of all work visas by Trump administration till the end of 2020. He mentioned that the immigration policies followed by the current government are cruel and humane.
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The former US president promised to revoke this suspension and build an immigration policy centered on keeping families together. He said that he will take immediate action to protect dreamers, including 100,000 eligible dreamers from East and South Asia, and also retract Muslim travel ban, immediately restoring refugee admission.
In his digital town hall meeting, Biden also said that he will make it easier for qualified Green Card holders to move through the backlog. In April, Trump had passed an executive order to suspend green cards for 90 days, which was extended until the end of the year.
The US allocates only 140,000 green cards for all employee preference immigrants including accompanying family members, every year. Currently, there are around 10 lakh foreign nationals and their accompanying family members, residing in the US who have been approved but have not yet received green cards.
Proposed Reforms in Immigration Policy
In his policy paper on immigration, Biden has emphasized on the following reforms that he will execute, once he wins the US 2020 elections:
- Biden has proposed to work with Congress to reform temporary visas and establish a wage allocation system that aligns with the labor market.
- He has also promised to increase the number of visas awarded for permanent, employment-based immigrations and build a system to temporarily reduce the number of visas during the high time of US unemployment.
He will also exempt from cap any recent graduates of Ph.D. programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields in the US. He believes that losing these highly trained workers would be of great disadvantage to the US economy.