Lawmakers address green card backlog, H-1B visa issues at US immigration summit
At the recent immigration summit ‘Tech Immigration Summit’ held at the US Capitol, lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties came together to shed light on the issue. There is an urgent need to address the green card backlogwhich is making a huge impact Issues related to Indian professionals and H-1B visas,
Green cards, officially known as permanent resident cards, allow people to live and work permanently in the United States.
Parliamentarians at the summit organized by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora (FIIDS) advocated the removal of the 7% country cap for issuing green cards to foreign guest workers in special categories.
Without this change, the waiting period for Indian immigrants could exceed 20 years and in some cases even 70 years, news agency PTI reported.
Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, stressed the importance of a rational immigration policy.
“We know that immigrants have helped build Silicon Valley, a lot of the companies that have started, that have created a lot of jobs, that have created a lot of jobs, were founded in India, China, Asia, the Middle East. “It is made up of immigrants from Europe,” he said.
Khanna aims to eliminate the country’s border limits to prevent workers from becoming trapped in a situation that harms both American workers and H-1B visa holders.
“This will help raise wages, help American workers, and help these families. We should also provide green cards to people who received education in the United States. It doesn’t make sense that we’re paying for someone’s education in college or giving them STEM, and then we’re telling them that when American taxpayers are funding the education they need to go back to where they were. They had come. I would rather stay here, create jobs here rather than offshoring those jobs,” Khanna said.
MPs push for immigration reforms
Congressman Eric Swalwell emphasized the broader impact of fixing the immigration system, linking it to solutions to challenges in health care, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
“The US immigration system is broken,” Mr Thanedar, an Indian-American congressman, said, according to news agency PTI.
We need to strengthen legal immigration; Our businesses need it. Whenever I meet CEOs of companies, they tell me how important it is to be able to find a skilled workforce. Today we are losing a lot of people from Australia to Canada because they are taking advantage of our broken immigration system. We need to be able to retain the skilled workforce in America. “It will help our GDP, it will help our businesses grow and it will create more American jobs.”
Congressmen Rich McCormick and Raja Krishnamurthy called on the US Congress to pass related legislation.
Khanderao Kand of FIIDS pointed out that technical immigrants play a vital role as leading entrepreneurs in key industries.
He emphasized that their situation, especially for those coming from India, is hindered by the 7% country quota, which has caused a substantial backlog in green card processing.
Affected individuals as well as representatives of various organizations expressed hope for meaningful reforms to create a more efficient and inclusive immigration system.
Along with several US lawmakers, think tank representatives, and a State Department official, testimony was heard from individuals impacted by the immigration system, including people waiting for green cards, Documented Dreamers, family members, and students .