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The proposed bill would eliminate country cap and allow the use of unused visa slots from previous years.

Four years of the Trump administration have been tumultuous as far as immigration is concerned. A just-released Pew Research Center report takes a look at the impact it had had on immigration.

According to the study, the number of people who received a green card declined from about 236,000 in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year (January to March) to under 78,000 in the third quarter (April to June). By comparison, in the third quarter of fiscal 2019, nearly 266,000 people received a green card.

Now with a new president in town, all eyes are on him and his proposed immigration reforms. President Joe Biden has already announced his immigration agenda and is working toward boosting refugee admissions. However, when it comes to work-based immigration, there are a lot of questions on how the Biden administration proposes to work on them, especially on employment-based green cards and H-1B visas.

One of the issues that concerns Indian nationals on work visas in the United States is the employment-based green cards. The Biden administrations proposed legislation could boost the number of employment-based green cards. Currently, the maximum employment-based green cards that can be issued each year is 140,000.

Even that comes with a catch: Citizens of no single country can claim more than 7 percent of available green cards. That policy has resulted in creating a massive green card back log for countries such as India and China.

READ: Biden bill increases country caps opening new avenues for Indians (February 18, 2021)

Bidens proposed legislation would not only eliminate the per country cap but would also allow the use of unused visa slots from previous years. It will also allow spouses and children of employment-based visa holders to receive green cards while not counting them under the annual cap limit.

Overall, we could have retained these high skilled immigrants and their families if the backlog situation were resolved by previous administrations, said Pooja B Vijayakumar, a consultant and researcher on immigration. The current immigration system is broken, and I hope that this issue is taken up seriously. In the future, the Biden administration has plans to hire more foreign workers, which is great, but this should be only done once the current green card backlog issue is addressed.

H-1B visas:

There is also talk on whether the Biden administration would reverse Trump-era policies that resulted in unprecedented rate of H-1B visa denials.

According to the Pew report, In fiscal 2019, more than 188,000 high-skilled foreign workers received H-1B visas. H-1Bs accounted for 22 percent of all temporary visas for employment issued in 2019. In all, nearly 2 million H-1B visas were issued from fiscal years 2007 to 2019.

The new administration has for now decided not to implement a rule proposed by Trump that aimed at linking H-1B visas to wages.

The administration withdrew a notice issued just five days before Trumps exit regarding compliance with a law requiring US employers to pay H-1B visa foreign workers the same or more than Americans in similar jobs by both staffing agencies and their clients.

There is also a proposal to provide permanent work permits to the spouses of H-1B visa holders.

We live in a globalized world and our society is stronger when we have a manageable approach to legal immigration that works for the country and for immigrants both individuals and families, said Christopher J. L. Cunningham, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

I am encouraged that the proposed policy and process changes I am hearing about are promising and seem to be in-line with actions that should help to address some of the challenges and issues. There is clearly much more work to be done before we understand and can work to support legal immigration in a way that protects the health, well-being and dignity of all.

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How will Biden's proposed immigration reform affect Green Card and H-1B... - The American Bazaar

A UCLA study published today found that providing citizenship to all unauthorized immigrant workers in the United States would add at least $1.5 trillion to the American economy and $367 billion in federal and state tax revenue over the next decade.

By comparison, granting citizenship only to the members of that group who are considered essential workers including in agriculture, retail and construction would generate an additional $1.2 trillion to the nations gross domestic product and $298 billion in tax revenue over the same timeframe.

Granting citizenship only to people covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, would generate $112 billion in GDP and $28 billion in tax revenue; and granting citizenship only to recipients of Temporary Protected Status would account for $62 billion in GDP and $16 billion in tax revenue.

The study is a collaboration among theUCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, theUCLANorth American Integration and Development Centerand theUCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Its publication comes as Congress and the Biden administration are considering ways to move forward on immigration reform.

When it comes to immigration policy, we want to highlight that there is a risk that excluding some people from immigration reform will come at the expense of the economy, said Ral Hinojosa-Ojeda, director of the North American Integration and Development Center and a faculty affiliate of the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative. Keeping immigrants in the shadows stymies economic growth, slows down job creation and hurts local economies, making it a political play that hurts all of our pocketbooks.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden promised his policies would include a path to citizenship for the nations estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants. But because of Congress repeated failures over the past two decades to pass broader legislation that would provide citizenship to all unauthorized immigrants, members of Congress have, in the past two months, introduced multiple standalone bills to address specific aspects of immigration policy.

Those piecemeal reform proposals would grant citizenship to certain groups of unauthorized immigrants those covered by DACA or Temporary Protected Status, for example while excluding others.

According to the UCLA report, any immigration reform that excludes certain groups of immigrants from earning citizenship would mean forgoing billions of dollars in economic output and tax revenue, and the potential for creating tens of thousands of jobs.

The authors write that the legal protections that come with citizenship, along with the wider access to jobs and economic opportunities, would produce a 25% increase in wages, on average, for unauthorized workers. The anticipated increase in wages that would fuel further economic activity, which in turn would lead to increases in economic output, tax revenue and job creation.

As the Biden administration and congressional leaders consider how to move forward with immigration reform, the report offers a data-backed look at how their decisions could influence the nations economy, said Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, research director of the Latino Politics and Policy Initiative and a co-author of the study.

At a time when Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to their role as essential workers, the study makes it clear that implementing comprehensive immigration reform is both an economic and moral imperative, Dominguez-Villegas said. If the economy is truly the priority, its clear that exclusionary policies are costly compromises.

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Citizenship for unauthorized immigrants could add $1.5 trillion to economy over next 10 years - UCLA Newsroom

4S RANCH For the last six years, Sooraj Sasindran and his family of four have lived a life that is resolutely all-American. Sasindran a 36-year-old engineer from India bought a home in the 4S Ranch neighborhood, where he and his wife balance working remotely with parenting their two daughters.

In a pre-pandemic world, they hosted barbecues with friends on the weekends, spent days at the beach and mapped out their next trip across the United States. Its an idyllic life the Sasindrans have worked hard to build for their children a normalcy that could end if immigration reform isnt passed, he said.

Sasindran works in the United States on an H1-B guest worker visa, sponsored and employed by a local tech company. Spouses and children of these foreign workers are allowed to reside in the US on accompanying statuses, known as the H-4 visa.

Sasindrans eight-year-old daughter born in India has spent most of her life in San Diego on an H-4.

Shes completely American, Sasindran said, adding that they moved to California when she was still a baby.

The family has filed for green cards, but the wait for Indian nationals to receive them is exponential possibly crossing into five decades, according to data analysis from the CATO Institute. Employment-based green cards are capped at 7% for each country, leading to long lines for those born in India or China.

President Joseph R. Bidens proposed U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 could offer relief if passed. It would remove country caps the cause of green card backlogs and protect children from aging out of their status when they turn 21, as per current immigration law.

As long as immigration petition is filed before the age of 21, the dependents age is locked in, said Tifany Markee of the bills proposed reform. Markee, a partner at Milner & Markee in Rancho Bernado, added that children could also be eligible for work permits and social security numbers if the bill passed.

They can work at after-school jobs, do summer internships at college because theyre no longer just H-4 [visa holders] who only have the ability to go to school, Markee said. So I think its a huge improvement.

Sasindran is still cautious about optimism, however. Unclear if the backlog would ever resolve, he decided to apply for Canadian permanent residency a few years ago. The family was on the verge of moving north until the pandemic hit.

She wants to be an actor when she grows up, Sasindran said of his daughters early ambitions. But I can never encourage it because I know if shes still on H4, she cant do it.

Applications from 2010 are now being processed in Sasindrans specific green card category, according to the State Departments February visa bulletin. Because his application has gone forward, Sasindran and his daughter have officially stated an intention to immigrate. He fears this could later cause conflict in case his daughter doesnt receive her green card in time, forcing him to consider temporary options like a student visa.

Its difficult for a foreign national to have a pending intent to immigrate while also applying for non-immigrant status, Markee explained.

In those situations, youre likely going to have to argue flexibility to consulates, she said.

The bills success at passing as comprehensive reform has been debated ever since its introduction to Congress earlier this year. Among changes for H-4 dependents, it includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, farmworkers and increases provisions like diversity visas.

My personal opinion is that were going to see more of a piecemeal approach, said Markee. I dont believe were going to get bipartisan support for the entire bill because its incredibly all-encompassing. I think the reality is that its going to pass into smaller pieces relating to something particular.

Its a sentiment Dip Patel, 25, shares. A Canadian citizen also on a temporary work visa, Patel founded Improve The Dream, a movement advocating for documented dreamers.

For the last few years, his work has been expansive; he and other Improve The Dream community members have met with bi-partisan congressional members to ask that all foreign individuals brought to the US as children are protected by legislature, regardless of how they entered the US.

We ask that they include all children who grew up here, whether they are undocumented or documented, he said.

Patels initial hope was that documented dependents be included in Senator Dick Durbins DREAM Act, which only granted eligibility to those who had entered the US unlawfully or lost a valid status. House Democrats later voted against an amendment that would include documented dependents in the act.

Like Markee, Patel believes that more focused legislation is key to their success. Improve The Dreams efforts paid off when dependents on visa statuses such as the H-4 were included in the House Dream and Promise Act of 2021, passed in the House this week. More than 150,000 documented dreamers could receive permanent residency if the act is passed, estimates the Migration Policy Institute.

Its the first step forward, that were finally being heard, said Patel. As a whole, were excited that were included as Dreamers as well.

The House is set to vote on the bill this week, the first step in creating a path to citizenship for more than 200,000 children awaiting green cards.

Whatever happens going forward, I hope we get a solution for permanently aging out [of status], Patel said. No child who grows up here should have to face that.

The news is heartening to many in the Improve The Dream community, which consists of thousands of parents and children across Slack channels, Facebook groups and other messaging platforms. Over the last few years, theyve brainstormed ways to make their voices visible on social media and draw more congressional attention to their cause.

Ravi Gosai, 35, a resident from Cypress, California, is one of them. An active Twitter user, hes been hoping to bring light to his two sons situation especially as his older son Daksh, 14, begins to consider college.

I have to take my ACTS, my SATs, Daksh said, who was also admitted into a college preparatory program at his high school. But Im worried itll all go down the drain if I dont get a green card. I wont be able to work on my current status to help out my family. If I shift over to a student visa, I wont be eligible for many scholarships or any in-state tuition.

Without significant change, their future in America is up for debate, Gosai said.

I am hopeful that the Dream and Promise Act passes, but am still skeptical about what the final bill will look like, he said. Sometimes I think, Am I playing with their future? I started feeling guilty about it because I may have chosen a country without thinking of the outcome of it.

Daksh and his young brother, Vansh, 12, were raised entirely in Orange County. They love basketball and call themselves avid Lakers fans.

America is all that makes sense to them, their father said. Its the only language they speak.

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'America is all that makes sense to them': Exploring the urgency of immigration reform - Coast News

President Joe Bide; Photo credit: White House

Pushes for action on the Hill for faster processing of green cards; H-4, L-2 EADs.

Keen to fix Americas broken immigration system, President Joe Biden is pushing for action in the Congress to ensure faster processing of green cards and work permits for the spouses of foreign workers.

I think the President would reiterate that he believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday at a White House briefing.

He is eager for Congress to move forward with action there, she said in response to a question about a protest on Capitol Hill by a number of Indian American doctors fighting against Covid-19 pandemic demanding elimination of country quotas for green cards.

Asked about delays in issuing Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) to spouses of H-1B and L-1 workers on H-4, L-2 dependent visas, Psaki said that was part of the reason for Bidens push for action on his sweeping immigration overhaul bill.

I think part of the reason we want to push for action on immigration on the Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas that you just conveyed, she said.

So thats part of the reason why we think thats such an important piece to move forward on, Psaki said in response to a question about the cause of the spouses that was supported by Vice President Kamala Harris when she was a senator.

Last month, Democrats introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress proposing removal of seven percent country caps for green cards for all nations big or small.

This has created a huge backlog for applicants from countries like India, while some small nations do not use their full quota.

According to the State Department, Indians with advanced degrees whose immigration applications were approved in 2009 and skilled workers and professionals whose applications were okayed in 2010 are still waiting for their green cards.

The immigration reform bill faces an uphill battle in the Congress with an evenly divided Senate and Republicans demanding stringent restrictions on illegal immigration.

Earlier, legislative action to remove country caps died in the last Congress because the Senate and House of Representatives failed to reconcile their differences in time.

H-1B visas are for professionals and L-1 visas are for those transferred by their companies to the US.

Their spouses, mostly Indian women, had been allowed to work in the US by President Barack Obama, but his successor Donald Trump had tried to ban work authorization for them.

In his first week in office, Biden put to an end to Trumps efforts and allowed spouses to get work permits.

READ MORE:

How will Bidens proposed immigration reform affect Green Card and H-1B visas? (March 24, 2021)

Delay in processing of H-4 and L-2 spouses EADs challenged (March 24, 2021)

Rep. Coleman asks DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas about H-4 EAD delays (March 22, 2021)

Read the rest here:
Biden wants to fix broken immigration... - The American Bazaar

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) Several groups are calling on Joe Biden to invest more federal dollars to deal with the migrant surge on the southern border.

That money should be used to immediately hire more immigration judges and shore up border infrastructure. That includes expanding temporary holding facilities and child shelters, as well as modernizing border security through technology. That, in turn, will free border agents to deal with this or future challenges, participants in a Border Solutions Roundtable said this week.

The groups are also calling on Biden to involve the governments of Mexico and Northern Triangle countries of Central America in addressing internal crises that make so many people leave their homes and seek and end to persecution or a better way of life in the United States.

I really think solutions have to begin south of the border, said Danilo Zak, senior policy and advocacy associate at the National Immigration Forum. That [] really represents the only path toward an ideal scenario where children, families and other migrants are safe and secure in their own country (with) no need to flee or migrate irregularly in the first place.

Analysts and advocates say the U.S. should help Central American nations address the root causes of migration like insecurity and poverty and provide a reliable structure for people there to apply for asylum remotely, without putting their lives and those of their children in jeopardy by making a dangerous trip through Mexico.

We should do more to combat cartels and smugglers. Part of that is engaging in a more effective messaging campaign to dispel some of the fiction sold by these cartels to desperate migrants, Zak said. And thats not just dont come, but to inform them about asylum laws and the immigration system to dispel misinformation by the smugglers.

But while that happens, the Biden administration must make immediate changes to the way it deals with the thousands of family units and single adults that are showing up at the border, they say.

The problem with the border right now is not that so many people want to come here, but solely that people are coming illegally and when they do come Border Patrol treats them inhumanely by caging them or dumping them in destitute and dangerous cities in Mexico, said David J. Bier, senior policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research organization.

Bier suggests the federal government apply the same standard to would-be refugees today as it did to Cuban emigres who showed up to ports of entry prior to 2017.

The government should grant asylum immediately at the border to as many applicants as possible. It should grant the rest parole status and admit them to pursue their applications, Bier said. This would end the illegality and inhumane treatment. Perhaps more people would come but if they crossed legally this wouldnt be a problem any more than the millions of legal crossers that we (process) each week.

Bier says refugee admission policies are behind the steep rise in unaccompanied minors coming across the border.

We will accept 100 percent of them but only if they cross illegally. If they seek asylum at ports of entry, nearly all will be refused entry. This approach means that nearly all kids are being forced into the hands of smugglers, he says. If they are with their parents, in many cases theyre expelled to Mexico. So, many parents are sending their kids alone and trying to sneak in behind them, leading to repeated attempts over and over by parents to reunite with their kids.

The migrants wouldnt have to resort to smugglers if, for instance, theyre given Temporary Protected Status on account of hurricanes that struck the Northern Triangle late last year and devastated communities and farms.

And Biden should boost the H2-B visa cap for temporary workers, he said, because despite the pandemic millions of job openings exist in certain industries.

Monica Weisberg-Stewart, chair of the Texas Border Coalition, said border security issues must also be addressed or else the Mexican drug cartels will continue to exploit women and children, smuggle drugs and inflict pain on our American way of life.

She said immigration reform, better equipped and staffed ports of entry and new asylum laws are a must.

Asylum laws need to be updated. The children traveling alone needs to be addressed. We believe keeping Title 42 on the border is essential given what is happening at the border currently, she said. Title 42 is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order allowing federal officials to immediately expel unauthorized migrants to prevent cross-border spread of COVID-19.

More immigration judges are needed to deal with the surge and Biden should engage border leaders and residents before making decisions that affect them, she said.

We are right here on the border. Our mayors are dealing with these issues every day, Weisberg-Stewart said.

She added border agents need to be allowed to do their jobs because theres a lot of mixed messages.

Visit theBorderReport.com homepagefor the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

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Groups urge Biden to hire more immigration judges and fight drug cartels - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com