Despite Indian American group’s objections, Biden is committed to “restoring compassion and order” to the country’s immigration system

Photo Courtesy: President Joe Biden-Facebook

In reply to an Indian-American influential advocacy group which urged not to issue H-1B work visa to any individual born in India, till the time the discriminatory country-cap on green cards or permanent legal residency is removed, the White House said on Thursday that US President Joe Biden has been very clear about “restoring compassion and order” to the country’s immigration system.

The reply came weeks after Biden signing a series of executive actions regarding immigration.

“The executive actions signed thus far are just the beginning, a White House spokesperson told PTI.
“President Biden has been very clear about restoring compassion and order to our immigration system, and correcting the divisive, inhumane, and immoral policies of the past four years, which is our focus in the coming weeks and months,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier, in a statement, Aman Kapoor, president of Immigration Voice had called on the Biden administration to use its authority under INA Section 212(f) to exclude any new individual born in India who are not currently in the United States legally from obtaining a new H-1B visa for the first time in Fiscal Year 2022.

The White House, however, did not say whether the administration plans to issue such an order. At the same time, it has committed itself to a comprehensive immigration reform which is humane and compassionate. In his immigration reform bill sent to the Congress, the White House has proposed elimination of country-quota in allocation of green cards, a major demand of organisations like Immigration Voice and Indian IT professionals.

An estimated 8.15 lakh Indians holding H-1B Visa are in the green-card backlog list in the US. It will take approximately 84 years for most of them to get through the process.The worst will be the cases of their children who number 11.57 lakh, a majority of whom will age out before getting a green-card, leading to a family separation.

According to a study conducted recently by David J. Bier, an immigration policy analyst with a US-based think-tank Cato Institute, 1.36 lakh children from Indian families fall in the backlog of this particular category and 84,675 of them (or 62%) will age out without getting a green card.

“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 per cent 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, Kapoor said.