US President Trump Signs Order to Suspend Work Visas for H1B & Others

US President Donald Trump yesterday signed an executive order to suspend work visas for all H1B, H2B, H4, L1 and certain J1 visas till end of December, 2020. However, immigrants already in US with these visas will not be affected by this executive order. Even foreign students eligible for Optional Practice Training, who graduate from American institute, will also remain unaffected. The order will also grant exemptions for healthcare workers focused on treating and researching COVID-19, while also exempting workers in food and agriculture industries.

Senior administration officials claim that this move will reallocate over 525,000 jobs to out-of-work Americans. This move is looked as implementing his decision in April to temporarily suspend immigration to the US to protect American jobs in light of the recent pandemic. Trump has also ordered to replace the current lottery system with a merit-based system that will favour those who are offered the highest wages as a part of much broader reforms for the H1B visa holders.

Immigration has contributed immensely to America's economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today.

Reacting on the move, Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google & Alphabet said in his tweet, “Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Goole the company it is today. Disappointed by today’s proclamation – we’ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all”.

India’s industry body Nasscom said in a statement today that, “The proclamation issues barring the entry of certain non-immigrants into America and setting new conditions for others is misguided and harmful to the US economy”. “Even though our companies have hired tens of thousands of Americans and invested billions of dollars in recent years, they like others in the sector utilize such high skilled individuals to services their clients. This new proclamation will impose new challenge and possibly force more work to be performed offshore since the local talent is not available”. Nassom in a note further urges the Administration to shorten the duration of these restrictions to 90 days.