New York : US President Donald Trump is tightening the American immigration system on multiple fronts. After extending the USD 1,00,000 fee for H-1B visas by another year despite facing legal challenges, Trump has now signed an executive order that will bring employers laying off American workers under greater scrutiny. Both the moves stand to indirectly impact Indian technology workers, who dominate the H-1B visa program.
Homeland Security proposed a new rule to do away with the 60-day grace period for H-1B and other non-immigrant visa holders after job loss. This essentially will leave affected workers with far less time to secure another lawful avenue to remain in America. As per the latest order, the US State Department, Labour Department, and Homeland Security have been directed to coordinate more closely while processing H-1B applications.
The White House said the order, signed on Saturday, was aimed at curbing the misuse of the H-1B program by companies that use foreign workers to replace American employees or reduce labour costs. In simple terms, a US-based company that has recently fired American workers will now face greater scrutiny when it seeks to hire foreign workers via the H-1B route. It further stated that somewhere between 8,00,000 to 1.3 million American employees have been laid off from 2022 through 2026.
It must be noted that the order does not dissuade or impose a blanket ban on such companies hiring H-1B workers. Instead, it directs agencies to amplify scrutiny on layoffs and other employment practices when processing labour applications (LCA), visa petitions and H-1B visas. LCA refers to the Labour Condition Application, which has to be filed by the employer with the Labour Department. For many Indian technology workers, the H-1B visa is the entry point into a longer career in the US.
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