A new federal regulation that took effect throughout the US could make it more difficult for legal immigrants dependent on government assistance to obtain permanent residency permits, known as green cards.
The so-called “public charge” rule, which went into effect on Monday, also applies to applicants for extension of non-immigrant stay in the US or change of non-immigrant status, reports Efe news.
Amid a months-long legal battle, President Donald Trump’s administration will start enforcing the regulation, which may transform the current US immigration system into one with a heavier emphasis on criteria such as a migrants’ income, age or academic training.
Although court appeals were still pending, the measure was implemented after the US Supreme Court on February 21 lifted an injunction that had been imposed by an Illinois district court.
The high court had earlier lifted injunctions against the policy that had been imposed by courts in the states of New York, California, Washington and Maryland.
The rule will not apply to immigrants who already have green cards nor to those applying for citizenship.
Refugees and people seeking or have been granted political asylum were also among those excluded from the restrictions.
Trump’s run to the White House in 2016 was fuelled in part by his vow to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and take other steps to crack down on illegal immigration.
Although the President enjoys strong backing from within his own Republican Party just over eight months prior to the 2020 general election, some former supporters-turned-critics say he has not done enough in that regard.
But many Republicans also want a partial – or even total – crackdown on legal immigration, warning that conservatives will not be able to win national elections in the future due to a steadily increasing number of traditionally Democratic-voting Hispanics in Texas and other states.
The new system, which has a lower annual salary threshold (£25,600) is likely to enable more Indians to access employment opportunities in the post-Brexit UK. Citizens of the European Union will no longer enjoy preferential access to living and working in the post-Brexit UK from January 1, 2021 under a new points-based immigration system likely to benefit Indian professionals who are already preferred by British employers.
Announcing the radical change on Wednesday, home secretary Priti Patel – daughter of Indian-origin immigrants – said the ‘free movement’ enjoyed by EU citizens over decades of UK’s membership of the EU will end, offering more opportunities to global talent.
The UK already issues more than half of its work visas to Indian professionals (52 per cent of Tier 2 visas). The new system, which has a lower annual salary threshold (£25,600) is likely to enable more Indians to access employment opportunities in the post-Brexit UK.
British business organizations cautiously welcomed the new regime, hailing the scrapping of cap on work visas, but feared severe labor shortages when low-skilled EU citizens will no longer be available in hospitality, care, food processing and other sectors.
Patel advised them to adapt and train 8 million economically inactive people in the UK population: “UK businesses will need to adapt and adjust to the end of free movement…(It) is important that employers move away from a reliance on the UK’s immigration system as an alternative to investment in staff retention, productivity, and wider investment in technology”.
The new system’s policy document states: “For too long, distorted by European free movement rights, the immigration system has been failing to meet the needs of the British people. Failing to deliver benefits across the UK and failing the highly-skilled migrants from around the world who want to come to the UK”.
“Our approach will change all of this. We are implementing a new system that will transform the way in which all migrants come to the UK to work, study, visit or join their family…From 1 January 2021, EU and non-EU citizens will be treated equally”.
Applicants will need to have at least 70 points under heads such as a confirmed job offer, knowledge of English, education qualifications and salary level. Indian students enrolling from September this year will also be eligible for post-study work visa valid for two years.
Jim Bligh of the UK chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry said: “We welcome the Home Office’s proposed new system, which rightly recognises that immigration to the UK should be based on skills, salaries and knowledge of the English language”.
“For business, it’s essential that the system retains flexibility for employers, particularly those bringing in highly-skilled workers on short-term assignments to support UK plc’s growth and transformation. It will also be important to ensure salary thresholds are not a deterrent to finding staff with the right specialist skills from around the world.”
Acting British high commissioner to India, Jan Thompson, added: “The new is great news for Indian nationals looking to work in the UK. It puts Indian applicants on a level playing field, and prioritizes those with the greatest skills and talent – something which India has in abundance”.
Usha Parashar, chair of FICCI UK, said: “The majority of Indian businesses in the UK require skilled manpower. The new point-based immigration system coupled with the lower salary threshold is a positive move. This has been a long standing demand of FICCI members”.
“The new system will benefit not just qualified professionals from India but also large number of Indian students in UK universities”.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s new Ambassador to the United States, has presented his credentials to President Donald Trump at a special ceremony held in the White House on Thursday, February 7th, 2020. The envoy was accompanied by his wife and peer Reenat Sandhu, currently serving as the Indian Ambassador to Italy.
According to a statement released by the Indian Embassy in Washington, Trump warmly welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and wished him success in his new role as New Delhi’s top diplomat in America. President Trump also fondly recalled his friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their several interactions.
Ambassador Sandhu said in a statement that the vision and guidance provided by Prime Minister Modi and President Trump in the last three years have moved India and the United States towards greater strategic convergence.
Ambassador Sandhu affirmed his commitment to work towards strengthening strategic partnership between India and the United States, which is anchored in mutual trust and friendship, democratic values and people-to-people ties.
At the State Department, Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, welcomed Sandhu back to Washington and said in a tweet that the new envoy was a “strong champion of US-India ties”.
Addressing a 200-plus strong gathering of senior US administration officials, lawmakers, business leaders, educators, Indian-American community activists including a good number of Sikhs, press and media persons, at his official residence in Washington, Thursday evening, Sandhu said: “It is like coming back home.”
With more than 2,000 US companies present in India and over 200 Indian companies in the United States, India-US bilateral trade last year hit $160 billion, said Taranjit Singh Sandhu, newly-appointed Indian Ambassador to the United States.
Speaking at a reception hosted by US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Ambassador Sandhu said that than 2,000 US companies have a presence in India today. “Over 200 Indian Companies have invested US$18 billion in the US, creating more than 100,000 direct jobs,” Ambassador Sandhu said in his remarks. “Two-way investment, between India and US reached, US $60 billion in 2018. Bilateral trade is growing at 10 percent, on a year-to-year basis, and reached $160 billion in 2019.”
He said bilateral numbers made him bullish about Indo-US relationship. “The best is yet to come. When US capital and expertise meets the Indian market and Indian mind, we should aim for nothing less, but the sky,” Ambassador Sandhu said. “I look forward to working with, USISPF and each one of you, in this endeavor of taking our relationship to new heights.”
Here are other highlights from his speech:
India has one of the youngest populations in an aging world. India is a land of 800 million young people. By 2020, the median age in India is just 28, compared to 37 in China and the US, 45 in Western Europe and 49 in Japan. The youth have the ability to think big, think out of the box, innovate, and bring, transformational changes. They are forward looking, and are hungry, for development. They are full of hope, and optimism.
The youth are the drivers of, the new start-up, ecosystem in India. India is the third largest, start-up base in the world. India added 13,00 tech startups last year.
India is home today to around 27 unicorns, i.e. startup companies, valued at over $1 billion. Companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Big Basket, are home-grown, and have revolutionized lives in India.
India is also home to more than 2 million social enterprises, companies which cater to diverse social causes. In the last eight years, over 1.2 billion Indians have received their biometric IDs — Aadhaar, as it called.
Aadhaar is also the largest and most successful IT project ever undertaken in the world, with 1.1 billion people (92% of the population) having a digital proof of identity. In 2016, India overtook the US in terms of internet users. India’s internet user base is now the second largest in the world. There are about 1 billion, mobile users today.
In mobile data consumption today, India is in the first position, ahead of US and China put together. India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world, and the 7th largest for manufacturer of commercial vehicles.
Indian educational institutes have produced the minds, that now lead the global corporations, like Google, Microsoft, MasterCard, Nokia, IBM. India is fast becoming an Artificial Intelligence Hub in the world, with reports suggesting, that 60% of India’s GDP by 2021 will come from AI.
India is the also, largest cinema producer in the world. More Bollywood films are watched by people than from any other industry. There are more Bollywood and Hollywood collaborations now.
Prime Minister Naredra Modi has set the goal for India to grow from a $3 trillion economy today to a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and a $10 trillion economy by 2030. In this journey, Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that the US is a preferred partner for trade and business.
The potential for co-operation between United States and India is limitless. The relations between two governments has found a new momentum, getting its energy from the warm friendship between President Trump our Prime Minister Modi.
Sandhu, who has replaced Harsh Vardhan Shringla, had previously served as the deputy chief in the Indian embassy in Washington.
Streamlined and elegant, with two long wings situated at the rear, this looks like a gas-guzzling super jet built for criss-crossing the planet with scant regard for environmental impact.
In fact, it’s the design for electric passenger airplane that strives for efficiency, sustainability and glamor. The concept aircraft is the work of New-York based designer Joe Doucet, who was inspired by his frequent business travel short-haul flights to produce something capable of making the journey without producing typical aviation engine emissions.
Doucet’s design, the Her0 Zero Emissions Airplane uses electric-powered propellers located at its rear to provide the thrust, while sweeping wings that end in large, upturned winglets, provide the lift.
Her0 is one of several electric jet concepts that have premiered in recent years, as the aviation industry grapples with how to continue to grow while also trying to reduce its environmental impact.
This Her0 blueprint, Doucet tells CNN Travel, has both practical and aesthetic purpose. Propellers, he says, are reliable and efficient. The trade off is a slightly longer flight time — about 20% — but the designer reckons this wouldn’t be an issue on short or medium haul flights.
As for the swept-back wing design, this is to ensures the airplane’s well balanced — most of the weight will be in the back of the aircraft, as that’s where the battery will be situated.
Aesthetically speaking, Doucet says he wanted the plane to look “somewhat futuristic” but also be an attractive travel option for fliers.
“If you can make this something that is desirable, something that makes people question why it’s not there, you have a better chance of forcing the hand of industry to respond to consumer demand,” he says.
Doucet describes himself as a “designer, entrepreneur, inventor and creative director” — but he’s not an aeronautical engineer, and this his first foray into the world of aviation.
The designer says he drew upon his years of frequent flying in an attempt to find a solution to an issue that he’d been considering for some time. “I really follow problems where they take me, and try to address the solutions elegantly,” he says.
Her0, Doucet acknowledges, may never see the light of day. But the designer’s sole goal is to open up a conversation, if interest around his design encourages progress towards electric planes, he’ll count it as a success. As it is, he’s already been approached from aviation engineers, suggesting improvements and discussing potential collaboration.
A British Airways flight has set a new speed mark for a commercial passenger plane crossing the Atlantic. The fight landed early Sunday morning at Heathrow Airport in London after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York just four hours and 56 minutes earlier.
British Airways confirmed the flight time for the Boeing 747 plane, saying the company prioritizes safety over speed. That set a new speed record for subsonic — or slower than the speed of sound — commercial aircraft, according to Flightradar24, which tracks global flights.
The previous record was held by a Norwegian Air flight, which flew between the two cities with a flight time of five hours and 13 minutes. The flight had been expected to take 102 minutes longer.
The recent average flight time between New York and London is 6 hours and 13 minutes, according to Flightradar24. The wind and air currents were considered ideal for a fast flight. The supersonic Concorde flights used to fly across the Atlantic in just over three hours, but stopped flying in 2003.
“The flight was riding a much stronger than usual jet stream, with winds over 200 mph propelling the aircraft,” says senior CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
“The supercharged jet stream is also responsible for powering Storm Ciara, which has brought damaging wind gusts and massive waves to the UK, Ireland and other parts of Northern Europe this weekend.
“The jet stream is a fast moving ‘river of air’ high in the atmosphere, around the height that commercial airliners fly. The jet stream is responsible for carrying weather systems around the planet.”
The plane landed at Heathrow airport at 4:43 a.m., almost two hours earlier than scheduled. Its top speed during the flight was 825mph (1,327km/h), according to Flightradar24, an online flight-tracking service.
Motivated by more restrictive immigration policies under the Trump administration and the difficulty of obtaining green cards in the United States, the number of Indians obtaining permanent residence in Canada has more than doubled since 2016. Given current trends, Indian scientists and engineers will likely continue to see Canada as an attractive alternative location to make their careers and raise a family.
The number of Indians who became permanent residents in Canada increased from 39,340 in 2016 to 80,685 in 2019, through the first 11 months of 2019, an increase of more than 105%, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data. Full-year Canadian statistics will likely show more than 85,000 Indian immigrants in 2019.
What are the reasons for this stunning increase in immigration from India to Canada? “Canada is benefitting from a diversion of young Indian tech workers from U.S. destinations, largely because of the challenges of obtaining and renewing H-1B visas and finding a reliable route to U.S. permanent residence,” said Peter Rekai, founder of the Toronto-based immigration law firm Rekai LLP, in an interview.
In the United States, the denial rate for H-1B petitions for continuing employment (primarily for existing employees) is 12% under the Trump administration, four times higher than the denial rate of 3% in FY 2015. For new employees on H-1B petitions the denial rate was 24% through the first three quarters of FY 2019, compared to 6% in FY 2015.
Due to the low number of employment-based immigrant visas (green cards) and the per-country limit, an Indian-born professional might need to wait decades before obtaining permanent residence in the United States.
Many U.S. and Indian technology companies have opened affiliate offices in Canada. The Canadian government, for its part, has streamlined its work permit process for tech workers and provides a clear path to permanent residence, notes Rekai.
“Indian nationals are ideally suited to Canada’s points-based selection system, which places a high value on youth, post-secondary education, and high-skilled foreign and (especially Canadian) work experience,” said Rekai. High-level English language skills are required to qualify for permanent residence under Canada’s Express Entry points system, which may be one reason the number of immigrants from China has remained relatively flat in the past few years. Chinese nationals who do not garner enough points through Express Entry could still gain permanent residence under programs run by Canadian provinces, which focus on skills needed by local employers and place less importance on language ability.
Another factor in the rise of Indian immigrants in Canada is the ability of Canadian universities to attract international students at record levels. In 2017, the number of international students in Canada increased by 20%. In 2018, international student enrollment at Canadian universities rose again, by 16%.
At the same time, at U.S. universities new enrollment of international students declined by more than 10% between the 2015-16 and 2018-2019 academic years.
Canada makes it easy for an international student to transition to work after graduation, which creates a path to permanent residence. However, the Trump administration has announced plans to restrict or eliminate Optional Practical Training (OPT), including in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. Optional Practical Training allows international students to work after graduation in the U.S. for 12 months or an additional 24 months in a STEM-related job. The administration has also put forward other restrictions that would make an education in America less appealing to international students. (See here.)
The rise in Indian students coming to Canadian universities is likely a significant reason that Indian immigration has surged. The number of Indian international students studying at Canadian universities rose from 76,075 in 2016 to 172,625 in 2018, an increase of 127%, according to the Canadian Bureau for International Education. In contrast, at U.S. universities, the number of international students from India enrolled in graduate-level programs in computer science and engineering fell by 21% (18,590 fewer graduate students) from 2016 to 2017.
Canada plans to increase legal immigration. “To further ease the challenges of a shrinking labor force and an aging population, our new multi-year immigration levels plan sets out the highest levels of permanent residents that Canada will welcome in recent history,” declared Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen in 2018. By 2021, Canada is expected to increase legal immigration to 350,000 a year, a rise of 63,490, or 22%, from the 2017 level of 286,510.
In the United States, legal immigration fell by 7% between 2016 and 2018, one of the first concrete signs of the impact of the Trump presidency on legal immigration. Due to Trump administration policies, and without any changes in the law by Congress, the annual number of new legal immigrants to the U.S. could decline by as much as 30%, or up to 350,000 a year, from the 2016 U.S. immigration level of 1,183,5050, according to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis.
The implementation of the administration’s public charge rule, the travel ban and diminished refugee admissions are the key factors that will more precisely determine the new, lower level. Reducing legal immigration and thereby slowing labor force growth means lower long-term economic growth may become Donald Trump’s most lasting legacy.
The points system in Canada mostly works because it is flexible and responds to employer needs, and that part of the system is likely impossible to implement in the United States because of America’s different governmental structures. Peter Rekai has noted that it could be dangerous to import the Canadian points system wholesale into the United States. “Putting broad immigration decision-making into the hands of a strong executive can lead to ‘be careful what you wish for’ outcomes,” according to Rekai. “An ideologue in an empowered U.S. executive branch (e.g., White House aide Stephen Miller) could significantly change the focus of U.S. immigration through executive order or action.”
More important to attracting employers and skilled workers to Canada is how much easier it is in Toronto and other Canadian cities to employ professionals comparable to H-1B visa holders. Under the Canadian government’s Global Skills Strategy, the country’s adjudicators approve many applications for high-skilled workers within two weeks and, in contrast to the U.S., the number of applications denied is low.
New restrictions on H-1B visas and international students, combined with long waits for employment-based green cards, make America a less attractive destination than Canada for many high-skilled immigrants and their employers. Based on current trends, the situation is likely to grow worse for U.S. companies seeking to attract talent to America.
Among advocates of immigration restriction, it’s almost an article of faith that newcomers from rich countries are more desirable than those from poor countries. In early 2018, President Donald Trump reportedly expressed a desire for more immigrants from Norway and fewer from countries such as Haiti, labeling the latter with an expletive. Writing in 1896, restrictionist Francis Walker made a similar argument, calling East European immigrants “beaten men from beaten races.”
This view comes partly from racial bigotry and negative stereotypes. But it also stems from two misconceptions about U.S. immigration: Restrictionists ignore the importance of institutions, and they underestimate how effective the U.S. is at selecting the talented, the hard-working and the ambitious.
First, the caricatures offered up by Trump and Walker don’t come close to describing reality. Immigrants tend to be poor when they arrive on American shores, but they and their children rapidly move up. Native-born children of immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador who were born to families near the poverty line tend to earn about the median income:
Getting Ahead
Income percentile of sons of low-income immigrants*
Source: Leah Boustan
* Father’s birthplace for sons at 25th income percentile, sons’ average income percentile (1997-2015)
The children of immigrants from India and Pakistan are even more upwardly mobile.
So why do immigrants born in poor countries — and their children — succeed in the U.S.?
One big reason is that U.S. institutions are more effective at generating economic prosperity than institutions in developing nations. The U.S. has a reasonably functional and responsive government, property rights and the rule of law, a fairly efficient corporate culture and a large stock of accumulated knowledge and expertise. When immigrants and their children adapt to the American way of doing things, their natural potential is put to much better use than in their home countries.
There’s another powerful reason immigrants from poor countries do well in the U.S.: selectivity. The U.S. doesn’t just let in people randomly; in most cases, it carefully chooses those who are most likely to succeed.
For one thing, the system selects for education. About 12% of U.S. immigrants come via employment-based green cards, often after spending some time in the H-1B visa program. These individuals tend to be highly educated. And so do their families; 66% of U.S. immigration is done via various family reunification programs. As unauthorized immigration to the U.S. has dried up and gone into reverse, the average education level of new immigrants has soared:
The amount of selectivity is different for different countries. In a recent paper, economist Ed Lazear used a simple model to show how the education levels of a particular ancestry group in the U.S. — say Algerian-Americans — depends not just on the average education levels of the source country, but also on the size of its population and its degree of access to the U.S.
Lazear suggested that larger countries that send relatively small numbers of immigrants to the U.S. will tend to send their best and brightest. This explains why India, with 1.3 billion people and low average education levels, is the source of what is arguably the most elite group of immigrants in the U.S.
Looking at the data, Lazear found that just knowing three things — a country’s population, the number of immigrants it sends to the U.S. and the average education level in that country — allows one to make a highly accurate prediction of how educated the immigrants from that country will be. Selectivity ends up being the most important factor, by a considerable margin. Importantly, Lazear also finds that selectivity strongly predicts income, showing that the system isn’t just picking immigrants with useless paper degrees.
Of course, education isn’t the only kind of skill that the system selects for. The simple act of coming to a strange new country and starting a whole new life, often without even speaking the language, requires an uncommon amount of courage, ambition and grit. That’s probably why immigrants from Mexico, for whom selectivity is the lowest because of the big porous land border, are still very upwardly mobile. Because of low average education levels and racial discrimination, Mexican-Americans don’t tend to reach parity with the native-born, but they do close much of the gap.
So the evidence shows that the U.S. system is actually very good at selecting talented go-getters from abroad. Restrictionists who believe that immigrants from poor countries will make the U.S. a poorer place are simply wrong.
The U.S. State Department plans to issue new guidance that could make it more difficult for some pregnant women to obtain visas to visit the United States, a department official and a congressional aide said Wednesday.
The forthcoming regulations are aimed at cracking down on what the Trump administration calls “birth tourism,” the latest in a series of government efforts to restrict foreign travelers from reaching U.S. soil.
Most people who are born in the United States are entitled to U.S. citizenship, even if their parents are not citizens. It is unclear how many people travel to the United States to give birth each year with the intention of obtaining citizenship for their children; the U.S. government does not publish statistics on “birth tourism.”
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to the State Department.
The new rule, first reported by BuzzFeed, is expected to appear “shortly” in the Federal Register, according to the State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the rule before it is issued. A congressional aide briefed by the department also confirmed the new rule.
The guidelines, which the State Department will circulate to U.S. consular officers, will affect B1 and B2 nonimmigrant visas, otherwise known as temporary visas for business, tourism or medical treatment. The U.S. government issued 5.7 million B1 and B2 visas in fiscal year 2018.
The official said the new guidelines will not prohibit pregnant women from obtaining visas but will extend discretion to consular officers, who will have to determine whether a woman is planning a visit to the United States solely for the purpose of giving birth. It is unclear how they would make that determination or whether they will try to verify pregnancies.
A congressional staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a regulation that has not yet been published, said the State Department had a conference call Wednesday to tell lawmakers the broad strokes of the policy. The Trump administration is concerned that pregnant women are coming to the United States to give birth and instantly claim U.S. citizenship for their children. Consular officers would use their judgment when screening cases, the staffer said, and would not ask every woman applying for a visa – some of which are valid for years – whether they are pregnant.
Consular officers already interview visa applicants about their reasons for travel and are expected to determine that their stay in the United States will be limited in duration before issuing visas.
The Center for Immigration Studies, a right-wing think tank that advocates for lower immigration levels, estimated that there are about 33,000 births per year to women who arrived in the United States on tourist visas and then left the country. The organization said its estimate was “based on a combined analysis of birth certificate records and data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Both estimates represent a rough approximation, based on limited data, of the possible number of births to women who came to America specifically to have a child and then left once the child was born.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 3.8 million live births in the United States in 2018.
India and the US are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries, Outgoing Indian Ambassador to the United States and the newly appointed India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who will leave Washington later this month, has said.
Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday last week organized for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs. “We are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries,” Shringla said during the event.
Shringla, who is scheduled to leave for India later this month, said that the India- US bilateral trade has increased significantly in the last one decade and it is expected to be over USD160 billion by 2019. Noting that there are a lot of complementarities between the Indian and the US economy, the Ambassador said that Indian-American entrepreneurs and in particular organizations like TiE DC play an important part in strengthening these bilateral ties, not only people to people but also economic and strategic relationship.
Ravi Puli, an entrepreneur from TiE DC, said that in just about a year, Shringla has made a great impact on India-US relationship. “As an ambassador, he has taken the US- India relations to a level that all of us are feeling very proud and we are looking forward to take it even further with his leadership as a foreign secretary of India,” he said. The event was attended by eminent Indian-American entrepreneurs from in and around Washington DC and leaders of other chapters from various parts of the country.
Ambassador Shringala was accorded a spate of farewells, including by the Trump administration, the Congressional leadership and America Inc., and a reception hosted by Shringla himself, where spiritual guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, offered blessings to the departing envoy.
The Jan. 10 reception at the ambassador’s residence, now known as India House, was attended by nearly 500 members of the Indian American community from across the country, senior administration officials, Congressional staffers and leading policy wonks from all of DC’s think tanks.
At the reception, Sadhguru after reciting a shloka, predicted that the U.S.-India ties would mature with Shringla at the helm of diplomacy as India’s next foreign secretary, declaring that this relationship is imperative to benefit the whole world.
“This relationship between the two most resilient democracies on the planet is not just important for these two nations,” he said, adding, “How we build this relationship will determine many things globally.”
Shringla, in his brief remarks, at the outset, said among much laughter that “there was an ambassador friend of mine, who was very fond of the saying that all good things have to come to an end, and so they must and this is where we are.”
He said, “The year 2019, has been a great year. We’ve had some ups and we’ve had some downs, but on the whole, we can welcome 2020 with the fullest satisfaction that the (U.S.-India) relationship that was extremely close, extremely cooperative, which had all the resonance of a very, very strong friendship has started 2020 with an even better, closer, and warmer relationship.” Shringla told the guests that he looked forward to “seeing you in Delhi,” and to more laughter, added, “With all the direct flights we started, it’s not too much of an effort.”
Thus, he said, “We look forward to seeing members of Congress, the administration, the media, businesses, those who are from the Indian community, and of course, all of our other friends who might not belong to these categories, are all welcome.”
“We look forward to staying in touch, staying connected and this is one thing I’ve said everywhere I’ve gone, that as I leave, I take with me the distinct feeling that we really have one of our most important relationships right here in the United States,” he said. “It is a relationship that will continue to be important for us in time to come, and you can be sure that out of Delhi, we will see how we can take this relationship forward in every way possible.” And Shringla reiterated, “Your help in that is absolutely indispensable.”
The outgoing Ambassador, who would take up his new assignment as India’s next foreign secretary later this month, however, did not give an exact date for the inking of the much anticipated trade deal. The trade deal was first announced by US President Donald Trump when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
At a reception accorded him by the State Department and held at the historic Blair House, which sits opposite the White House, the Trump administration’s point person for the subcontinent, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, predicted that Shringla would be “the captain” of the U.S.-India relationship. “It has been extraordinary, what you have been able to achieve,” she said. Wells, who was headed to India later that week to attend the Raisina Dialogue, pointed out that Washington and New Delhi have been working for the last two decades to realize the goal of becoming “a natural partner,” referring to a term that was first coined by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his visit to the U.S.
Earlier on Jan. 7, at a farewell for him hosted by the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) — a breakaway group from the USIBC, which is headed by Mukesh Aghi, who earlier was president of the USIBC, Shringla said, “What we are really looking for is to provide the basis for an exclusive partnership in trade between our two countries that can give US companies preferential market access to India and Indian companies the preferential market access to the United States.”
Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday organised for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs.
India and the US are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries, India’s outgoing Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said. Shringla made the comments while addressing a group of Indian-American entrepreneurs during a farewell lunch on Friday organized for him by TiE DC, a regional chapter of the global non-profit membership and mentoring organization for entrepreneurs. “We are close to concluding a trade package that would provide enhanced market access to both countries,” Shringla said during the event.
Ever the quintessential diplomat, outgoing ambassador and India’s next foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said the hiring of a second lobbying firm, is to engage a changed U.S. Congress, although it was apparently prompted by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives’ India-bashing over the humanitarian crisis and communications blockade in the aftermath of the Indian government’s repeal of Article 370 that provided special status to this only Muslim-majority state in the country.
Shringla acknowledged that the few U.S. lawmakers who continue to be critical of the Indian government’s actions and “are pushing on his issue, perhaps because they don’t have a full understanding of the situation or they don’t want to have that, but as I’ve said, we have fully engaged with Congress and will continue to do that.”
He said he had instructed “all my colleagues that this is the highest priority — not the other things you are doing — and whatever you have, you drop that and you go and meet people, meet Congressmen, meet staffers, but get our point of view across, so that they can take into account,” the efforts of the government of India to alleviate the situation in Kashmir.
“And, it’s not a one-off thing. You have to constantly go and update them on the situation,” Shringla said. But he said, “There are some like Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rashida Tlaib (D.-Mich.), and Ilhan Omar that are pushing a certain line that seems to be rigid. We’ve tried to engage them, we’ve tried to explain to them the situation, but despite that, the formulation they’ve come up with, as to how they would like Congress to look at it, is counter-productive, besides being factually incorrect and not reflective of the current situation.” Shringla argued, “If you are not open-minded, if you are not objective on this issue, there is not much anyone can do.
Last month, the Indian government hired Cornerstone Government Affairs for an initial period of three months through end February to represent it in Washington for a contract worth $40,000 a month, for which Cornerstone — in a filing with the Department of Justice — said it would provide its client with “strategic counsel, tactical planning and government relations assistance on policy matters before the U.S. Government, the U.S. Congress, and select state governments, as well as academic institutions and think-tanks.”
GOPIO International officials, Life Members and chapter officials from the New York area were invited to an interactive meeting at the Indian Consulate in New York on Jan. 13th. This was a new initiative from the Indian Consulate, ‘Chalo Consulate’ where community representatives could interact with Consulate officials and discuss issues of the community and find solutions to them. Indian Consulate was represented by Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty and all other Consulate officials including Consul for Trade Devi Prasad Misra, Consul Vipul Mesariya Political & Press, Information and Culture), Consul Murugesan Ramaswamy (Consular, Passport, Visa & OCI), Consul for Community Affairs A.K. Vijayakrishnan and Head of the Chancery Jaideep Chola.
GOPIO was represented by its Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham, International Coordinators Lal Motwani and Harbachan Singh, GOPIO-New York Vice President Inderjit Singh, GOPIO-CT President Ashok Nichani, GOPIO-Central New York President Patsy Leopald, GOPIO North Jersey Vice President Dhnanjay Desai and many other Life Members and chapter officials. GOPIO also invited a few other community representatives to this meeting including South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) and The Kerala Center.
The Indian Consulate in New York has launched PRAMIT program through its website where most of the consular and other information can be channeled in a very effective way.
Consul General Chakravorty said, “To strengthen response management system of Consulate, we have focused on e-Governance solutions and designed in house a web application named PRAMIT (Pravasi Mitra). Within few months of its launch it has become very popular among the users. PRAMIT web application has dashboard based centralized monitoring and response system for calls as well as messages form users. At present through PRAMIT we are able to monitor as well as reply every Call/Queries within one business day. It is very simple and user-friendly web application.”
According to CG Chakravorty, on an average the Consulate handles 800- 1000 applications/applicants per day. In last one year through PRAMIT and has handled around 16000+ message queries as well as processed around 4000+ misc services applications (Aug-Dec 2019) and answered/replied around 32,000+ calls (April-Dec 2019). PRAMIT has been proven to be an effective e-Governance tool to handle various issues related to Indian Community.
“Most importantly, we never missed a single call/message after PRAMIT was launched and our website has been visited by around 2.7 million people in the 13 months,” added CG Chakravorty.
GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham said that GOPIO works very closely with all Indian missions worldwide for the benefit of the Indian Diaspora community. Participants at the meeting could also bring out general community issues at this meeting.
At the end of the meeting, GOPIO officials presented Ambassador Chakravorty two First Day Covers released by the US Postal Service at the First Convention of People of Indian Origin in New York in 1989. Dinner and networking followed. “It was a highly productive meeting,” said GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham.
Net international migration added 595,000 to the U.S. population between 2018 and 2019, the lowest level this decade. This is a notable drop from this decade’s high of 1,047,000 between 2015 and 2016.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 population estimates released show that international migration added about 7.9 million people to the nation’s population since the last census in 2010. Annual growth in net international migration slowed between 2015 and 2016 and has been declining since.
Migration patterns measured since 2015 primarily reflect three major trends: declining immigration of the foreign born, increasing foreign-born emigration, and changes in Puerto Rican migration following Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
China replaced Mexico to become the largest sending country of foreign-born immigrants to the United States as of 2018.
The population estimates show that net migration from Puerto Rico to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, which rose after Hurricane Maria, reversed between 2018 and 2019. More people are moving to than away from Puerto Rico.
Foreign-born immigration is the largest contributor to net international migration and is measured based on the American Community Survey (ACS) estimate of the foreign born whose residence one year ago was outside the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Island Areas.
Foreign-born immigration this decade peaked at 1.46 million in 2016 and declined by 250,000 to 1.21 million in 2018, according to the ACS.
China replaced Mexico to become the largest sending country of foreign-born immigrants to the United States as of 2018. At the beginning of the decade, Mexico was the largest, but immigration from Mexico has dropped significantly since the recession at the end of the last decade.
Since 2010, immigration from China and India has either approached or surpassed Mexican immigration levels while immigration from Canada has remained relatively unchanged.
More People Moving to Than Leaving Puerto Rico
Estimates of net Puerto Rico migration are based on residence one year ago from the ACS and Puerto Rican Community Survey (PRCS).
The estimates also incorporate flight passenger data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to account for recent movement following Hurricane Maria.
Net migration from Puerto Rico to the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia increased from 78,000 during the 2017 period (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017) to 123,000 during the 2018 period (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018), which covers the month Hurricane Maria made landfall.
However, it reversed during the 2019 period (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019), resulting in net in-migration of 8,000 people to Puerto Rico.
State Estimates
Florida, California, Texas, New York and Massachusetts typically gain the most migrants from abroad and comprise about half of net international migration for the nation most years.
Mid-decade estimates showed large increases in net international migration in Florida, California and Texas, but modest increases for New York and Massachusetts. Texas doubled from 59,000 to 118,000 between 2010 and 2015, which surpassed New York’s mid-decade estimate of 84,000 to become the third largest net migration state. Several states approached or dipped below 2010 levels this year.
Between the last census in 2010 and July 1, 2019, international migration added 1,107,000 people to Florida; 1,022,000 to California; 819,000 to Texas; 698,000 to New York; and 362,000 to Massachusetts.
What Does Migration Measure?
Migration occurs when a person changes their usual residence across a geographic boundary, regardless of citizenship or legal status, according to the Census Bureau.
International migration is the movement between the 50 states and the District of Columbia and abroad.
This excludes commuters, tourists and business visitors, but does include immigrants, temporary migrants and the native born moving between the United States and foreign countries, movers between the United States and Puerto Rico and deployed U.S. military personnel.
What Is “Net” Migration?
Net migration measures in-migration minus out-migration. It is positive when more people move into than leave a geographic area and negative when more people move out than move in.
Net international migration is a more complete measure than immigration for estimating population change since it accounts for people leaving the United States.
Who Are the Foreign Born?
The Census Bureau defines the foreign born as people who are not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign born include naturalized citizens and non-citizens but not people born in a foreign country to U.S. citizens.
Net international migration in 2019 is a projection and is subject to revision as more recent data on foreign-born migration become available. In addition, previous years in the time series may be revised to include more recent data on people who leave the United States.
See the Vintage 2019 methodology statement for a description of input data and methods, as well as other migration components not highlighted in this story.
Vintage 2019 Population Estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties will be released in the spring of 2020. Demographic characteristics will be released in the summer of 2020.
Anil Srivatsa, All Geared Up To Set Records With Drive The World: The Worlds Longst On-Road Expedition To Spread Awareness About Organ Donation
North Brunswick, NJ. January 04, 2020: the Million Donor Project will hit the road in the fifth series of the Gift of Life Adventure (GOLA). This time, the road to organ donation awareness will take Anil Srivatsa to every nook and corner of North and South America (over 55,000 kilometres over the span of three months).
The route covers not only major cities, but also takes team GOLA through back roads into the heart of 15 nations in the two continents.
The Journey of a Kidney Donor, Anil Srivatsa who went through emotional upheavals and the subsequent making of a champion for the cause of Organ Donation. He donated his kidney 5 years ago and is now driving around the world in his own car to tell his story on how he became an accomplished athlete after donating his kidney as a world record holder in the World Transplant Games 2019 held in Newcastle, UK
He will address the following points during the course of telling his story:
– How he dealt with all the fears associated with organ donation
– His journey through the legal and procedural issues that plagues Organ Donation around the world
– Speaking about concerns that only first-hand interactions with a live donor can help address.
– what it takes to truly become an organ donor by throwing light on what happens after you sign up.
– He deals with religious and superstitious myths that surround Organ Donation and busting them would help save lives.
– Life saving and life giving Information that no one has told you about.
He has a wealth of stories as he accumulates and shares his experiences having driven through 43 countries. Driven over 100K kms taking over 400 days of being on the road and sharing his story with over 74000 people through over 250 plus talks in schools, colleges, Rotary Clubs, Community centres and companies.
He is currently driving from New Jersey to Alaska across Canada to Argentina and back to New York adding another 55000 kms over the next 150 days. He is passing by our community and we would love for you to interact with Anil. He is a great story teller and you don’t want to miss it.
A fully crowd funded effort the Gift of Life Adventure Foundation’s drive around the world is literally fuelled and fed by tax deductable contributions made via facebook, GoFund me and other means of charitable contributions including venmo, paypal and more.
TeamGOLA consists of Anil Srivatsa and his wife Deepali Srivatsa, both American’s living in North Brunswick NJ where they are now working to grow their 501 (c) (3) Non Profit Organization Gift of Life Adventure Foundation Inc.
GOLA 1: A week long cycling expedition in Spain 6 months post surgery to show that an organ donor and recipient can lead an active and healthy lifestyle
GOLA 2: A cross continental on-road expedition from India to Scotland to spread awareness about organ donation
GOLA 3: Drive from Italy to Oman to help the kick start the Million Donor Project
GOLA 4: Drive around India for 5 months spanning 27000 kms
The Gift of Life Foundation
The Gift of Life Foundation is a registered NGO/NPO in USA and India that was founded in June 2017 by Anil Srivatsa. The GOLA Foundation serves in the field of medical, health, education and allied activities; identifying life changing events in the lives of qualified individuals (predominantly women and children) or communities and fund the various interventions to ensure long term and short term positive outcomes for them. The events that fall in the realm of the said Trust include Organ transplants, Lifesaving Medical procedures, Education, Mental health, Civic health and housing, Disaster and refugee relief, Domestic violence rehab, Women and Child sexual abuse intervention and rehab, Long term medical care, Govt. Policy advocacy, public education and awareness
THE BACK STORY
Sept 5 2014 changed my life when I donated my kidney to my brother. I realized the value of this donation and how this changed his life where he now in turn saves lives every day as a doctor. I found that people were afraid to donate. This fear came from ignorance. As a member of the journalist/media fraternity, I made it my mission to tackle this ignorance so more people would come out and give the valuable gift of an organ after their life time if not during it.
I had to become an example to other donors and inspire them to explore the idea of gifting a life. I had to pick an activity that attracted the attention of the people I pass and the media, who would give me the exposure and platform to spread my message. I picked overland driving as this was the most effective way of touching peoples lives and them mine. Thus the gift of life adventure was born.
I undertook my first adventure when I took my brother on a 7 day cycling adventure in the hills of Spain just 6 months after the transplant to show that life can be back to ordinary if not extraordinary. The press showed up and helped. The awareness was beginning. I was becoming a part of the voice that was growing louder together.
I got drawn into my mission even deeper when I decided to drive with my family (Organ donation is a family decision and mine played an inspiring part in my decision) on a road trip from Bangalore India, to Scotland UK. A 74 day journey where along the way we met and spoke to may organizations and people about the mission. I used my personal funds by selling off the one apartment I had so I can earn the trust of all and their support. This journey gave me a sense that awareness has to translate to action and after a pivotal meeting with an organization we met in Norway the Million Donor Project was born.
The million donor project is all about the family. Traditionally in India and many parts of the world, organ donors would register with an organization and did not speak to their families about it and when time came, the families did not make good the donation from lack of knowing. I decided to address this part of the process and designed an app that captures the intent and communicates it to the family via an SMS thereby starting a conversation at home. It is considered bad luck to speak about death in most homes. If the family knows, there is no need for signing up with ANY organization and the donation rate would be higher with the family behind it. The app is found at http://www.giftoflifeadventure.com/signup
To promote the Million Donor project, I drove again from Italy to Dubai which took 2 months across 20 nations, with speaking engagements at various rotary clubs for their support within their communities.
How the Foundation was Born
3 months ago I was approached by an acquaintance I met during the road trip to Scotland and sought my help to help his 17 year of Brother-in-Law navigate the Organ transplant process in India so he can have his kidney transplant. Malik and his brothers flew in from a small impoverished town in Afghanistan and in the watchful care of the Gift of Life Adventure Foundation (an NGO, non -profit) that I set up post the ordeal I went through for them only . I realized the laws in India need to be more user friendly and I could not do so as an individual. If the Afghan Brothers went through this, every India goes through this. Something had to change. I have rallied the support of the media, the hospitals and the now appointed lawyer to help me move the needle on the law and for this I need more funding than I can personally afford. This is a major project that is being built bit by bit until the bigger funding agencies can kick in. I want your help in getting me there for this module. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVl5zxhuukI&…
Dr. Suresh Reddy, President of AAPI, who led AAPI’s Expedition to Antarctica
Several years of meticulous planning, discussions, and organization, came to fruition as 190 delegates of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) Families and Friends from across the United States and India embarked on the Ocean Atlantic Ship operated by Albatros Expeditions on November 30th, 2019 from Ushuaia, the southernmost town on Earth in Argentina on a voyage to Antarctica, the seventh Continent, known as the Last Horizon on Earth.
The voyagers were welcomed on board by AAPI’s young and dynamic President, Dr. Suresh Reddy, who has been along with Dr. Vandana Agarwal, Chair of AAPI’ Cruise to Antarctica, working very hard, coordinating the efforts with Vinod Gupta from the Travel Agency, ATG Tours, the crew and leadership of the Cruise and the AAPI leaders and members with varied interests and ages ranging from 10 to 90, who had flown in from around the world for this once in a lifetime memorable and historic voyage to the White Continent.
The Ship carrying the sailors began its journey on November 30th, 2019 from the Ushuaia Sea Port with a prayer song to Lord Ganesh, chanted by Dr. Aarti Pandya from Atlanta, GA. Later in the evening, the voyagers sat down for a sit down dinner at the elegantly laid tables at the Restaurant with delicious Indian Cuisine, prepared by Herbert Baretto, a Chef from Goa, India, specially flown in to meet the diverse needs of the Indians who are now the exclusive Voyagers on Ocean Atlantic.
As the sun was still shining beyond midnight, members of the voyage were seen posing and taking pictures on board the ship with the background of the mighty ocean and the scenic mountains of Argentina at the background.
On December 1st morning, AAPI members were alerted to be mindful of the most turbulent Drake Passage, where the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean merge, through which our ship was now sailing with winds gusting through over 50 kms an hour from the south west. The rough with fast moving sea currents contributing to a turbulent weather, several voyagers took shelter in anti-nausea meds.
Throughout the day, there were special safety classes periodically, helping the voyagers on ways to navigate the zodiacs, the kayaks, the walks on the ice and snow once we reach our final destination. They were lectures on different aspects of wildlife on Antarctica, the species, especially the varieties of penguins, the mammals and the birds that inhabit the Continent. The participants were educated on the Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change and Impact, Whale Hunting, and many more relevant topics with scientific data by the Expedition Crew.
The evening was special for the voyagers as the Captain of the ship welcomed the delegates to the Ship and to the Expedition to Antarctica. He introduced his crew leaders to the loud applause from the delegates, as he toasted champagne for a safe and enjoyable journey to Antarctica.
On December 2nd morning, we woke up to milder weather and calmer ocean with the winds subsiding to about 20 kms an hour and ship sailing smoother with the temperatures below 7 degree Celsius. The crew on the ship described the sail to be the smoothest and the weather and wind conditions to be one of the calmest they have ever witnessed. However, the entire day was cloudy with the sun hiding behind the thick clouds upon the ocean.
After sailing across the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans and through the turbulent Drake Passage, and the South Ocean, finally, the day arrived for the Voyagers. The one they had been eagerly waiting for. On December 3rd, our ship, the Ocean Atlantic anchored on Danco Island, off the coast of the 7th Continent, Antarctica, officially discovered in 1820, although there is some controversy as to who sighted it first
The excitement of the voyagers had no bounds as they dressed up in their waterproof trousers, navy blue jackets, with hats and glosses and mufflers. They set out in groups marching off the Ship into the Zodiacs in tens in each Zodiac.
The wind and the ocean were calmer. The sun continued to hide behind the thick clouds. We headed off in Zodiacs to view icebergs, the glaciers, the land on a beach studded with penguins, as the Expedition Crew from the ship drove the AAPI delegates to the shore on the Danco Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, for the first time.
The glaciers, mighty mountains covered with pristine and shiny snow, the icebergs in multi-shapes and colors, floating on the Bay, made the Zodiac ride to the shore a memorable experience for each one.
As the voyagers walked to the shore on a narrow path on the soft snow surface, leading up to the snowcapped mountains, it was a dream come true for all. The fresh water melting from the glaciers and the ice and snow on the one side and on the other little rocks and mountains filled with snow, the Danco Island was picture perfect.
Penguins in small colonies of their own seemed unaffected by the voyagers landing onto the Penguin land. Hearing their unique and enchanting voices for the first time, as most of them sat steady, while a few walked from one end to the other, it was a scene everyone long dreamt to be part of, as it was another memorable experience in the life of everyone.
Penguin behavior is endlessly fascinating. We learnt that, in the Antarctic spring, hundreds of gentoo penguins as paraded before us, reestablishing their bonds, mating, staking their claims, and thievishly stealing stones from one another for their nests.
In the afternoon, after lunch and a lecture on the history of Antarctica, the Ocean Atlantic ship, travelling about 25 nautical miles, for the first time ever, landed on the Antarctic Continent as she reached the shores of Paradise Bay, a beautiful island, where the famous Brown Center, the Argentinian Research Station was located.
Trekking up the Hill on the snow and ice filled terrains, even as the serene and picturesque glaciers in vivid shapes and texture, it was mesmerizing and the Bay on either side, was breathtaking.
The following morning, the voyagers got onto the Zodiacs and sailed to Port Lockroy, a sheltered harbor with a secure anchorage on the Antarctic Peninsula since its discovery in 1904. The Port also is home to a Museum and a British Post Office, where the early visitors to the Continent lived and explored the wildlife of the last Horizon. The Museum has preserved the antiques used by the early voyagers, who are an important part in the history of Antarctica.
Bright sun light flashing on the Lamoy Point on our way south towards the northern peninsula of the White Continent greeted us all this morning on December 5th. The announcement over the microphone at 6.15 woke us all up, letting us know of the mild weather conditions with 7 degrees Celsius and 27 km s wind speed with bright sunny day was a welcome change from yesterday.
The wind made the waters of the Bay mildly rough as we set out from the ship. For the first time during the voyage, to the much delight of the AAPI delegates, the sun chose to come out from behind the clouds and shone brightly on the voyagers, making the snow shining and glowing with the rays of the sun filling the surface of the earth. It was delightful to see the Penguins close to the AAPI delegates, some of them walking beside them crossing their pathway.
Upon landing on the shore across from the tallest mountain on the Peninsula, Mount Frances with the height of 2,300 meters high, our zodiacs elegantly cruised through the calmer waters to the mountain range called the Princes and the Seven Dwarfs. We were fortunate to find penguins resting on ice floes, and sometimes had the opportunity to approach closely in Zodiacs for excellent photo ops.
The stunning views of the glaciers and the mountains, and the soft and shiny snow spread across the shore, led us all to the snowy hills, as we trekked to the top.
The opportunity of a lifetime for bird lovers, as we watched the blue eyed Antarctic terns, beautiful black-browed albatross, and other pelagic birds, including fulmars and petrels, nesting, resting, flying above us and trying to reach the bright blue skies. The wandering albatross, with the largest wingspan of any bird, is one of the many wildlife spectacles South Georgia affords.
We found ourselves at the top of the spectacular colony of penguins, and black-browed albatross. Brown Skuas flew over the colony while penguins, albatross, and shags took care of their eggs. We spend a good bit of time photographing the birds and generally taking in such wonderful experience and close views of the wildlife.
Colonies of penguins greeted us with their enchanting voices. We watched in awe as some of the tiny penguins walking up, from the bottom of the hill to the top, flapping their feathers occasionally.
Many of us waited patiently to have an opportunity to view the eggs upon which the Penguins were sitting to hatch their eggs. Some were lucky to photograph a few couples mating while we were trying to figure out the male from female.
Leaving the breath taking landscapes was not an easy choice as we were soon called to embark on the zodiac cruises and return to Ocean Atlantic, our ship, as she was patiently waiting to take us to the next destination of our expedition to the Last Horizon.
After a lunch Barbeque on Deck Seven of the Ship, the Ocean Atlantic took us through the beautiful Lemaire Channel on the Continent. Braving the cold and gusty winds, the voyagers got together for a group picture of the entire voyager group on Deck Eight of the ship, as they were awed by the beautiful glaciers, the mighty snow-caped mountains, and the floating ice bergs.
After journeying about five hours, we reached in the evening at the Melchiors Island, as the bright sun continued to shine upon us. During lunch and on way to the Island, the voyagers were thrilled to spot whales showing up their heads periodically.
The journey through the Bay was another memorable experience with the stunning landscape all along the route especially as the sun continued shine brightly on the snow peaked mountains turning the waters closer to the glaciers from blue to green. We had over an hour of Zodiac cruise exploring the sea life on the Antarctic’s South Ocean.
We climbed up to the top deck of the ship to have yet another amazing experience as the Ocean Atlantic Ship sailed through the Bay filled with Ice Sheet Rocks that are nearly a meter thick, slowly and steadily, slicing the Snow Ice, marching forward towards the Plenau Bay.
It was here at Plenau Bay, 39 brave AAPI members had the unique experience of taking “Polar Plunge” in the Atlantic Continent, which was 0.7 degree Celsius, while the rest of the AAPI delegates watched the brave men and women, taking a memorable dip and swim back to the ship, in the freezing cold waters of the White Continent.
We woke up this morning on Friday December 6th to a bright and sunny day, calmer ocean with 9 kms of wind speed. A picture perfect day for expedition. We went on zodiacs, cruising through the blue waters of the Half Moon Island, a cluster of snowy mountains shaped as a half moon.
Searching for wild life in the ocean with the voyagers looking out eagerly for any seals or whales did not seem to result in success as the sea animals and those on the shore seemed to hide in their resting places. Members of a Zodiac cruise reported of spotting a Leopard Seal swimming not too far from the Zodiac.
Finally, the zodiac captains took us to the shore where for the first time we landed on dark stony surface full of rocks, stones and pebbles. Our expedition crew leader reported that the shore was completely covered with ice and snow in the beginning of the season, barely a month ago.
At the backdrop of the glaciers and the imposing mighty mountains around us, we hiked up the hill intruding sometimes into the Penguin Highways, where we saw colonies of penguins resting under the bright sun. It was delightful to watch a few hopping on tiny rocks from one to another, unnerved by the visitors from the Other Continents on earth.
For the first time we were delighted to watch different kinds of Penguins, Gentoo, Adelie, Chinstraps, in the thousands sitting on a single rock glazing at the ocean waters. The photo ops for the voyagers were simply incredible. And while penguins are delightful in films and nature documentaries, watching the penguin life being lived around you is simultaneously uplifting and humbling.
We spotted a few huge Weddell and Crabeater seals, as well as Antarctic fur seals, whose populations have rebounded since the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and the 1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. They were resting on the rocks unmoved by the voyagers in several zodiacs watching them in awe. The bright sun and the gentle breeze embracing the voyagers, it was a perfect day to cruise and explore the White Continent.
In the afternoon while back on the ship, we were invited to climb up to the Decks 8 and 9 of the ship to view the entrance/passage to the famous Deception Island. And the ship sailed through this narrow path into the Island with majestic dark mountains on our right side, while on the left were the snowcapped mountains overlooking the Bay. As the gusty winds made us shiver, the voyagers standing on the top deck of the South Ocean, posed for pictures. We were lost in the stunning beauty created by the Mother Nature, for all of us to enjoy and cherish forever.
The final landing on the Last Horizon on Friday December 6th afternoon was at the Deception Island for the AAPI Voyagers. An unusually bright shining sky with gentle winds welcomed us to the shore of the black soft sand with little stones spread all along the 36 kms wide island.
The volcanic eruption here over 50 years ago, which reportedly continues to be active event today, has turned the island and the mountains into dark colored. Saw a huge seal on the shore resting with birds and few penguins of the Continent enjoying the mild weather, the voyagers trekked up the hill on the dark sand while the panoramic and breathtaking views on the snowy mountains beyond the Bay hovering over the blue waters of the Last Horizon.
On the Ship, immediately after settling down in each one’s cabin, the voyagers were invited to learn about safety on the ship and participated in a safety drill. Shelli Ogilvy, the Veteran Expedition Leader introduced the 22 Expedition Members with extensive maritime experiences from around the world, and over 60 other crew members to the voyagers.
Nine hours of Continuing Medical Educations (CMEs) were a major highlight of the Cruise to Antarctica. Led and organized by Dr. Krishan Kumar the informative and interactive sessions by experts was much appreciated by the voyagers. AAPI provided a hands on CPR Training on board to the crew of the ship, Ocean Atlantic, educating them on ways to help passengers in case of emergencies.
Each evening at cocktail hour the entire expedition community gathers in the lounge for a ritual, we call Recap. As you enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, various naturalists gave talks, showed videos, and our expedition leader would outline the following day’s schedule.
The evenings were fun filled with members spending time together with their select friends and families, singing, playing cards games, discussing politics to medicine to healthcare and sharing jokes and snippets with one another in smaller groups. The cultural events included live music sung by Dr. Radhika from Chicago, Dr. Aarti Pandya, Dr. Dharmija, and Dr. Madnani, in addition to several local talents of AAPI’s own, leading and vying to win the Anthakshri contest.
On December 7th evening, the voyagers had Black Tie Nite with many of them learning and playing Pokers until the early hours of the morning. As the ship began its return journey back to the shores, Dr. Aarti Pandya led the voyagers in a prayer song dedicated to Lord Hanuman, God of the Winds for a safe and smooth sailing.
After toasting Champagne with the Captain of the ship, the finale on December 8th was a colorful Indian Dress Segment, where the adorable AAPI women and men walked the aisle in elegantly dressed in Indian ethnic wear depicting different states of India.
Earlier, the AAPI delegates had toured the beautiful and serene National Park in Ushuaia, on the world famous Route 3 that runs from Alaska to the southern tip of the world in Argentina. At the Park, Dr. Reddy led the AAPI delegates carrying the AAPI banner, spreading the message of Obesity Awareness, which is a major objective of Dr. Reddy’s Presidency, taking the message of Obesity Awareness Around the World.
Dr. Suresh Reddy thanked Dr. Vandana Agarwal Chair of the AAPI Cruise Committee, Dr. Ravi Kolli, Secretary of AAPI, Dr. Ranga Redy and Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar, both past President of AAPI, Dr. Krishan Kumar, and several Regional Chapter Presidents for their hard work and dedication for making the Expedition memorable for all.
Memories of relaxing and rejuvenating morning walk across the island with breath taking views in abundance of Mother Nature, will last a life time for everyone who has been part of the historic expedition to the Seventh Continent. For more details on AAPI and its next voyage to Antarctica in January 2020, please visit; www.aapiusa.org
Ajay Ghosh, who was part of the AAPI Family and Friends Expedition 2019 to Antarctica
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will publish in March a proposed rule to strip work authorization from spouses of H-1B visa holders, the agency said Wednesday in the latest federal government rule-making agenda.
While the announcement in the Unified Agenda should be taken with a grain of salt — the agency has several times missed its own deadlines for proposing the rule — a March date fits with a Department of Justice memo that said the planned rule could be published as early as spring 2020.
However, the Justice Department, which submitted its memo in September to a federal appeals court in a lawsuit seeking an employment prohibition for H-1B spouses on the H-4 visa, called the spring timeframe “aspirational.”
In that lawsuit, IT workers argue that they were replaced by H-1B visa holders and now must compete against H-4 holders in the job market. Earlier this month, the workers scored a victory when a three-judge appeals panel in the Washington, D.C. circuit ruled the workers had proven that H-1B holders compete against them for jobs, and that letting H-4 spouses work increases competition because if they couldn’t work, some H-1B holders would leave. The judges kicked the case back down to federal district court to continue.
The H-1B, intended for jobs requiring specialized skills, has become a target of the administration of President Donald Trump. Under his Buy American and Hire American executive order, federal authorities have dramatically boosted H-1B denial rates, with outsourcing companies hit especially hard. While major Silicon Valley technology firms rely heavily on the H-1B to acquire talent, and push for an expansion to the annual 85,000 cap on new visas, critics point to reported abuses by outsourcers and argue that those companies, and major tech firms employing H-1B contract labor, use the visa to supplant U.S. workers and drive down wages.
A report released earlier this month by a group supporting an expanded H-1B program said that from fiscal years 2015 to 2019, outsourcers and staffing companies both foreign and domestic were getting hammered with H-1B denials, but that Big Tech saw little to no increase in rejections. Federal government data show that the steepest increase in H-1B denials has come under the Trump administration.
Spouses of H-1B workers on track for green cards have since 2015 been allowed to work. Estimates of the number of H-4 visa holders with work authorization range from 90,000 to 100,000. University of Tennessee researchers concluded that the vast majority are women from India. Many are employed in the Bay Area.
Homeland Security in 2017 first promised to end the H-4 work authorization, saying in the semiannual Unified Agenda that it would in February 2018 propose a rule to scrap the authorization.
The agency — named as the defendant in the “Save Jobs USA” case by the IT workers because it promulgated the work authorization under the administration of former President Barack Obama — has several times gotten the appeals court to put the legal proceedings on hold while it works on the H-4 work-ban rule. Howard University professor Ron Hira, who studies the H-1B, believes the holdup with the H-4 rule results from lobbying by groups in favor of letting the spouses work. Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Publication of the proposed rule is expected to trigger a public comment period. Comment periods for new federal rules typically last 30 to 60 days, but can extend to 180 days or more. Immigration law firm Fragomen has said termination of the H-4 work authorization “could come within months of the release of the proposal.”
H-1B Spouses Face Uncertainty with New H-4 EAD Decision
The fate of H-4 EAD, which allows the spouses of H-1B visa holders to work, is still up in the air after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit kicked a decision over the program’s cancelation back to a lower court.
Save Jobs USA, the tech-workers advocacy group that filed the lawsuit at the core of the case, suggests that the H-4 EAD could result in employment for 180,000 spouses of H-1B holders, resulting in increased (and unfair) competition for tech jobs. The lawsuit argues that the federal government overstepped its bounds in establishing H-4 EAD.
The court’s ruling seemed to agree with the lawsuit’s position, stating: “The rule will increase competition for jobs.” However, those who possess the H-4 EAD can continue to work, at least for now. A new court ruling, or the introduction of new government regulation, could still kill the program.
H-4 EAD, H-1B Both Squeezed
Earlier this year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suggested that ending H-4 EAD would prove “economically significant,” and ultimately benefit American workers:
“Some U.S. workers would benefit from this proposed rule by having a better chance at obtaining jobs that some of the population of the H-4 workers currently hold, as the proposed rule would no longer allow H-4 workers to enter the labor market early.”
However, the federal government is still reviewing its plans to potentially terminate H-4 EAD (the original deadline for a decision was Spring 2019, which passed). In the meantime, it has made the application process far more challenging: as of February 2019, anyone applying for the H-4 EAD needs to undergo biometric screening.
Meanwhile, the H-1B itself has been the focus of tightening government policy. Through the third quarter of fiscal 2019, denial rates for H-1B petitions have skyrocketed to 24 percent, according to a new analysis of USCIS data by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).
“In the first three quarters of FY 2019, USCIS adjudicators denied 24 percent of H-1B petitions for ‘initial’ employment and 12 percent of H-1B petitions for ‘continuing’ employment,” read the NFAP report (PDF). “The 12 percent denial rate for continuing employment is also historically high—4 times higher than the denial rate of only 3 percent for H-1B petitions for continuing employment as recently as FY 2015.” (A brief note on definitions: ‘initial employment’ means H-1B petitions for new employment, whereas ‘continuing employment’ is typically an extension for an existing employee.)
But that hasn’t stopped some of the country’s biggest tech companies from petitioning for H-1B visas—and subcontracting H-1B workers from services firms. Earlier this year, we analyzed a massive dataset from the U.S. Department of Labor on H-1B data for fiscal year 2019. Here’s what we found: ‘primary’ denotes direct H-1B petitioning, while ‘secondary’ represents subcontracting:
Despite occasionally expressing support for legal immigration, the Trump administration is imposing restrictions on it, denying and delaying more applicants for H-1B skilled-work visas and proposing to raise costs for people seeking asylum, citizenship and green cards.
Costs: The Department of Homeland Security wants to increase fees by a weighted average of 21%, according to a Federal Register notice it published last week. The public has 30 days to comment.
“This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost of their applications and minimizes subsidies from an already overextended system,” immigration hard-liner Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement. Cuccinelli was acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service when the statement was issued this month; last week he was named acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, according to BuzzFeed News.
It’s very clear that a policy objective of this is to erect significant new barriers for asylum seekers, green card applicants and citizenship applicants,” said Doug Rand, who worked on immigration policy in the Obama White House as assistant director for entrepreneurship, and is now the co-founder of Boundless Immigration, a Seattle technology company that helps immigrants obtain green cards and citizenship. He called the move “a weaponization of government fees.”
Fee increases could also apply to permit renewals for some 660,000 people who were brought to the U.S. without official permission as minors — if Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program allowing them to stay here, survives the Trump administration’s current attempt at the U.S. Supreme Court to have it repealed.
The change would particularly affect vulnerable immigrants — those who are low-income or asylum seekers, Rand said. It would mark the first time the U.S. requires people fleeing persecution to pay fees. Iran, Fiji and Australia are the only other nations that do so.
FOMAA has initiated in highlighting, advocating and educating the Indian American community members on the perspectives & challenges licit, legit & documented Employment Based (EB) immigrants are faced with insane Green Card backlog of 150+ years of wait time due to the Country Cap birth origin nationality quota system.
FOMAA together in partnership with IL immigration Forum (IIF) and Chicago Cosmopolitan Club has made a very bold statement enabling brotherhood to the otherwise unorganized orphans/strangers the deserving immigrant “Aliens” in the apathy of the insane Employment Based (EB) GC backlog.
This bipartisan initiative was well attended by elected officials of both Rep. & Dem parties, is of much significance.
Republican State Chief Mr. Tim Schneider, Honorable Representative Tom Morrison of District 54 together with Mr. Nimesh Jani, City Council member attended the convention. Honorable Congressman Mr. Raja Krishnamoorthy, Mr. Matt Flamm, together with Ms. Laddi Singh, area leaders represented the Democratic Party at the event.
Dr. Sam Pitroda, the absolute icon of immigrant success in America was the chief guest and enlightened the participants with his eloquent thoughts. It was double sweetened for attendees that a surprise birthday celebration was organized by FOMAA as it was Dr. Sam Pitroda’s birthday.
Dr. Pitroda, assertively reminded the audience how India historically hosted the Mughals, the British, the Portuguese, the Iranian Zoroastrians while they were fleeing persecution, the Polish when they escaped Nazi persecution, currently the Tibetans & the Bangla Rohingiyas making the First Nation in the world be a true “Melting pot”. The diversity that India is blessed with is the true factor that helped India to produce the best educated talent pool the global economic powerhouses could tap into. Dr. Pitroda encouraged everyone to involve actively in the political process that, unless without participation no changes can be expected in our favor; however desperate & genuine be our cause!
Hon. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthy, as well stressed upon the fact that a community that participate/vote, only will be counted & reckoned. This was in a way an appeal to the community from the Hon. Congressman urging all community members the importance of exercising their votes during the upcoming elections.
State Republican Chief Mr. Tom Schneider, highlighted Pr. Trump’s policies favoring licit & legit immigration. Rep. Morrison, being an educator by profession underlined the alarming shortage of skilled STEM professionals in USA & promised to represent our cause to the party higher ups.
The convention was well attended by citizens of Indian diaspora from across the Nation. FOMAA oficials Mr. Jose Abraham, on his welcome note narrated the vision & commitment to persuade favoring this genuine cause. This well organized event was chaired by Mr. Subash George Chemanthara, and coordinated by Mr. Vishak Cherian of —— State.
This exceptional, much needy stem put forward by FOMAA is greatly appreciated and will be a benchmark initiative to be followed by all other community organizations in social relevance. For more information please visit: www.fomaa.org
The U.S. is still a land of opportunity for immigrants. That is the implication of a new research paper by economists Ran Abramitzky, Leah Platt Boustan, Elisa Jácome and Santiago Pérez.
Using historical Census data to compare the incomes of immigrant fathers and their native-born sons, the economists found that the second generation has been just as capable of moving up the economic ladder in recent decades as they were a century ago. Looking at second-generation American men whose immigrant fathers were at the 25th percentile of income — in other words, fairly poor — they found that they tend to climb higher than their poor counterparts whose fathers were born in the U.S. And for most countries the researchers could measure, immigrant upward mobility is greater now than it was a century ago.
Almost all children of recent immigrants tend to be more upwardly mobile than people whose parents were born in the U.S. That isn’t surprising, since immigrants often have limited English skills and lack personal networks in the country; their children, who don’t suffer these disadvantages, naturally tend to move up to an income level more commensurate with their ambition and abilities. Furthermore, immigrants tend to move to places where upward mobility is easier, like big cities and college towns.
The average second-generation Indian- or Chinese-American who grew up on the edge of poverty will tend to reach the upper-middle class. That level of upward mobility is simply amazing. For Indian-Americans, the phenomenon is particularly surprising, since most Indian immigrants already speak English when they arrive, and hence have less of a handicap relative to their native-born kids.
Why do Indian and Chinese immigrants do so well? Some will no doubt attribute their outperformance to cultural values of education and hard work. In reality, it’s probably more about the type of immigrants who come from those countries. Indian and Chinese people tend to come to the U.S. not as refugees or unauthorized low-wage laborers, but as high-skilled workers or the close relatives of skilled workers. That means even poor Indian and Chinese immigrants tend to have prosperous friends and relatives, and to come from families that value education and ambition. And India and China have by far the biggest pools of population from which to select such driven and talented individuals.
This is especially true for India. Indians are the highest-earning group by ancestry in the U.S., with a median household income of more than $110,000 in 2016 (the difference isn’t due to larger households, since Indian-Americans also come out on top in terms of per capita income). But it’s not just scientific and technical fields in which Indian-Americans excel. They are increasingly a force in politics and law.
A growing number of politicians, top political staffers and judges are of Indian descent. In business, too, Indians are rocketing to the top — two of the U.S.’s five biggest companies, Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp., have Indian-born chief executive officers. Though historical comparisons are hard, Indians seem on track to be the most accomplished minority group in U.S. history.
This is not to say that all Indian-Americans are successful; some are poor. Nor should Indian achievement be used as a reason to denigrate other lower-skilled immigrant groups. The point, rather, is that the U.S. could benefit by letting in more Indian immigrants.
Employer-sponsored permanent residence permits, or green cards, are parceled out by country. There are about 150,00 available each year; officially, only 7% of these green cards can be given to immigrants from any one country in a given year, though some countries’ unused spots can be given to other countries. This system is deeply biased against big countries like India and China. In 2018, more than half of employment-based green card requests were for Indians, but Indians received only 13% of the total.
One solution is to simply remove the country cap. Congress has been trying to do this, with a bill called the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, but the legislation is being blocked by a handful of powerful senators.
Eliminating the country cap would be fair to large countries and would improve the flow of talent into the U.S., but it would only be a marginal improvement. A better idea is to simply increase the number of employment-sponsored green cards, and make the extra cards not subject to country caps. The U.S. now simply admits too few skill-based immigrants:
One of These Is Different. The world’s biggest countries are offering the U.S. some of their most talented people. We should do more to help them live and work in America.
New York-based author and journalist Aatish Taseer’s Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been revoked as he had “concealed” the fact that his late father was of Pakistani origin, the Indian government said last week. An OCI card allows a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and work in India for an indefinite duration of time.
However, the author has said in a reply that his estranged father was a British passport holder and that his parents had never been legally wed. His mother, columnist and writer Tavleen Singh, is his sole legal guardian, he said.
Aatish is a well-known critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ahead of the 2019 General Elections, he had written a scathing article in Time magazine, critiquing the failures of the Modi government. The article was titled ‘India’s Divider In Chief’ and had explored the question of whether the world’s largest democracy could endure another five years of a Modi government.
Aatish Taseer is the son of senior journalist Tavleen Singh, an Indian, and late Salman Taseer, a Pakistani businessman and politician. Salman Taseer was assassinated in the year 2011 while he was serving as the Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
“Mr. Aatish Ali Taseer, while submitting his PIO application, concealed the fact that his late father was of Pakistani origin,” the Union Home Ministry spokesperson tweeted.
“Mr. Taseer was given the opportunity to submit his reply/objections regarding his PIO/OCI cards, but he failed to dispute the notice,” the spokesperson said in another tweet.
“Thus, Aatish Ali Taseer becomes ineligible to hold an OCI card as per the Citizenship Act, 1955. He has clearly not complied with very basic requirements and hidden information,” it added.
Aatish tweeted that he had been given just 24 hours to reply, as opposed to the usual 21 days. Attaching a screenshot of the acknowledgement he received, the journalist also showed that he had, in fact, replied to the government, raising objections to the move. “This is untrue. Here is the Consul General’s acknowledgment of my reply. I was given not the full 21 days, but rather 24 hours to reply. I’ve heard nothing from the ministry since.” (sic) he wrote.
Committee to Protect journalists criticized the government of India. “Targeting a journalist’s immigration status after the publication of a critical article shows that the @BJP4India is intolerant of criticism and freedom of the press.”
The Department of Homeland Security will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to adjust the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Immigration Examinations Fee Account fee schedule.
Fees collected and deposited into the IEFA fund nearly 96% of USCIS’ budget. Unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee-funded. Federal law requires USCIS to conduct biennial fee reviews and recommend necessary fee adjustments to ensure recovery of the full cost of administering the nation’s immigration laws, adjudicating applications and petitions, and providing the necessary infrastructure to support those activities.
“USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures, just like a business, and make adjustments based on that analysis. This proposed adjustment in fees would ensure more applicants cover the true cost of their applications and minimizes subsidies from an already over-extended system,” said Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of USCIS. “Furthermore, the adjudication of immigration applications and petitions requires in-depth screening, incurring costs that must be covered by the agency, and this proposal accounts for our operational needs and better aligns our fee schedule with the costs of processing each request.”
The rule proposes adjusting USCIS IEFA fee schedules by a weighted average increase of 21% to ensure full cost recovery. Current fees would leave the agency underfunded by approximately $1.3 billion per year.
The proposed fee rule accounts for increased costs to adjudicate immigration benefit requests, detect and deter immigration fraud, and thoroughly vet applicants, petitioners, and beneficiaries.
USCIS last updated its fee structure in FY 2017, by a weighted average increase of 21%.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis).
If you fly often, you may have noticed that the flight times on your two-way tickets are different. This is because flights that are headed west simply take longer than flights that are headed east. Let’s take a brief look at why this is, how airlines utilize this fact, and how it affects your travel plans.
The reason why it is faster to fly east is because of jet streams. Jet streams are high altitude wind currents that move at hundreds of miles per hours from west to east. By finding these streams and placing their plane right in the center of them, pilots can lessen the duration of a flight significantly.
Jet streams are a vital part of air travel and are so advantageous that flights often will take routes that seem far out of their way in order to utilize them. Jet streams can not only reduce the overall travel time – they are also one of the best ways for airlines to use less fuel.
Airlines began taking advantage of jet streams in 1952 when a Pan American pilot named Logan Scott flew the first nonstop trip from Tokyo to Honolulu. To fly from Japan to Hawaii, the standard practice was for pilots to refuel at Wake Island on their way over the Pacific. The time spent landing, refueling, and taking off again was understood to lengthen the overall trip, but both Pan Am and Captain Scott were surprised to find that skipping the refueling saved a total of seven hours on the overall trip.
The reason why Captain Scott was able to decrease the overall time spent crossing the ocean was because he was able to keep his plane in the jet stream almost the entire time. The lowered fuel requirements that resulted from the use of the jet stream made the refueling stop an unnecessary diversion.
Jet streams are created in the tropopause layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, which begins about six miles above the Earth’s surface. The tropopause is the second lowest layer of the atmosphere, and is directly above the troposphere, which is the layer of the atmosphere where most weather events, such as clouds and storms, occur.
In the tropopause, the air temperature drops significantly. The interaction of this cold air and the warmer air of the troposhpere creates high speed winds, which can reach up to 250 miles per hour during the winter when the temperature difference is the greatest.
Where Are Jet Streams?
While jet streams encircle the globe, they are only a couple hundred miles across and can be found only in specific places on Earth. The most important and most active jet streams are the polar jet streams, which form around both the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, and the subtropical jet streams that can be found near the equator.
In addition to being found only in specific places, jet streams also do not flow in a straight line. Instead, they form giant waves that wrap around the planet. For this reason, the fastest way to fly to a distant location is not necessarily by flying straight toward it. Instead, pilots opt to follow the jet stream as efficiently as they can, even if that results in some unexpected zigzagging on the way.
These streams are so important that airlines measure them every day and adjust flight paths to be able to use them. So, the next time you are watching your flight path on the onscreen monitor, keep in mind that the unusual route your pilot is taking may help you get home a few minutes sooner.
Mexico has deported over 300 Indian nationals to New Delhi, the National Migration Institute (INM) said late on Wednesday, in what it described as an unprecedented transatlantic deportation.
The 310 men and one woman that INM said were in Mexico illegally were sent on a chartered flight, accompanied by federal immigration agents and Mexico’s National Guard.
The people had been scattered in eight states around the country, INM said, including in southern Mexico where many Indian migrants enter the country, hoping to transit to the U.S. border.
“It is unprecedented in INM’s history – in either form or the number of people – for a transatlantic air transport like the one carried out on this day,” INM said in a statement.
The Mexican government in June struck a deal with the United States, vowing to significantly curb U.S.-bound migration in exchange for averting U.S. tariffs on Mexican exports.
Caitlyn Yates, a research coordinator at IBI Consultants who has studied increasing numbers of U.S.-bound Asian and African migrants arriving in Mexico, said the backlog of migrants in southern Mexico has grown as officials have stopped issuing permits for them to cross the country. “This type of deportation in Mexico is the first of its kind but likely to continue,” Yates said.
Tens of thousands of Americans apply to U.S. medical schools each year. Only a fraction gain admission. The University of Arizona, for instance, posted a 1.9 percent acceptance rate in 2018. UCLA, Florida State University, and Wake Forest accepted fewer than 3 percent of applicants.
Many U.S. medical schools are proud of their microscopic admission rates. But they have negative ramifications for the nation’s healthcare system.
The United States will need up to 121,900 more physicians by 2032 to care for its aging population. U.S. medical schools aren’t producing enough graduates to meet that demand — and don’t have the capacity to expand anywhere close to that degree.
International medical schools are America’s best hope for addressing its physician workforce needs. They’re a crucial alternative for the thousands of qualified students who find themselves on the wrong end of a med school admissions decision as a result of the mismatch between qualified applicants and available seats.
Applying to med school has become a numbers game. In the 2018-2019 cycle, U.S. medical schools received over 850,000 applications from nearly 53,000 students. The average student applies to 16 schools.
Many students who would make terrific doctors fall through the cracks. In a recent interview with U.S. News and World Report, Dr. Robert Hasty, the founding dean and chief academic offer of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, said, “We hear from high-quality applicants every day . . . and these are people with really high MCAT scores and GPAs, that this is their second year, third year or even fourth year applying to medical schools. And years ago, they would have gotten accepted the first time through, but the demand is just incredible.”
In other words, the status quo is failing thousands of qualified applicants — and the U.S. healthcare system, which needs more doctors.
U.S. medical schools don’t appear capable of growing to address this problem. Enrollment is up only 7 percent over the past five years. That kind of modest growth won’t get us anywhere close to narrowing our nation’s projected shortage of physicians.
International medical schools can address these issues, providing opportunity to talented students and supplying the physicians America needs.
Many international schools provide an education every bit as good as those offered by U.S. schools. For example, 96 percent of first-time test takers from St. George’s University in Grenada — the school I lead — passed Step 1 of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam in 2018. That’s the same rate as graduates of U.S. medical schools.
Research confirms that international schools produce high-caliber doctors. According to one study published by the BMJ, a leading medical journal, patients treated by doctors trained overseas had lower mortality rates than those treated by U.S.-educated doctors.
Internationally trained doctors also practice where the U.S. healthcare system needs them most. In areas where per-capita income is below $15,000 annually, more than four in ten doctors received their degrees abroad.
Americans are increasingly turning to international schools. More than 60 percent of licensed medical graduates of international schools in the Caribbean are U.S. citizens. Three-quarters of the medical students at St. George’s are U.S. citizens.
The odds of gaining admission to U.S. medical schools are growing longer. But bright young Americans don’t have to give up their dreams of becoming doctors. They can turn to top-notch international medical schools. Their future patients will surely thank them.
(Dr. Richard Liebowitz is vice chancellor of St. George’s University (www.sgu.edu). He previously served as president of New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.)
India was the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million strong diaspora, according to new estimates released by the United Nations, which said the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million.
The International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) today, provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world.
The estimates are based on official national statistics on the foreign-born or the foreign population obtained from population censuses, population registers or nationally representative surveys.
The report said that the top 10 countries of origin account for one-third of all international migrants. In 2019, with 17.5 million persons living abroad, India was the leading country of origin of international migrants.
Migrants from Mexico constituted the second largest diaspora (11.8 million), followed by China (10.7 million), Russia (10.5 million), Syria (8.2 million), Bangladesh (7.8 million), Pakistan (6.3 million), Ukraine (5.9 million), the Philippines (5.4 million) and Afghanistan (5.1 million).
India hosted 5.1 million international migrants in 2019, less than the 5.2 million in 2015. International migrants as a share of total population in India was steady at 0.4 per cent from 2010 to 2019.
The country hosted 207,000 refugees, the report said adding that refugees as a share of international migrants in the country was four per cent.
Among the international migrants in the country, the female population was 48.8 per cent and the median age of international migrants was 47.1 years. In India, the highest number of international migrants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
In 2019, regionally, Europe hosted the largest number of international migrants (82 million), followed by Northern America (59 million) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (49 million).
At the country level, about half of all international migrants reside in just 10 countries, with the United States of America hosting the largest number of international migrants (51 million), equal to about 19 per cent of the world’s total.
Germany and Saudi Arabia host the second and third largest numbers of migrants (13 million each), followed by Russia (12 million), the United Kingdom (10 million), the United Arab Emirates (9 million), France, Canada and Australia (around 8 million each) and Italy (6 million).
The share of international migrants in total population varies considerably across geographic regions with the highest proportions recorded in Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) (21.2 per cent) and Northern America (16.0 per cent) and the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean (1.8 per cent), Central and Southern Asia (1.0 per cent) and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (0.8 per cent).
A majority of international migrants in sub-Saharan Africa (89 per cent), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (83 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (73 per cent), and Central and Southern Asia (63 per cent) originated from the region in which they reside.
By contrast, most of the international migrants that lived in Northern America (98 per cent), Oceania (88 per cent) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (59 per cent) were born outside their region of residence.
UN Under-Secretary-General for DESA Liu Zhenmin said that These data are critical for understanding the important role of migrants and migration in the development of both countries of origin and destination.
Facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people will contribute much to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report added that forced displacements across international borders continues to rise. Between 2010 and 2017, the global number of refugees and asylum seekers increased by about 13 million, accounting for close to a quarter of the increase in the number of all international migrants.
Northern Africa and Western Asia hosted around 46 per cent of the global number of refugees and asylum seekers, followed by sub-Saharan Africa (21 per cent).
Turning to the gender composition, women comprise slightly less than half of all international migrants in 2019. The share of women and girls in the global number of international migrants fell slightly, from 49 per cent in 2000 to 48 per cent in 2019.
The share of migrant women was highest in Northern America (52 per cent) and Europe (51 per cent), and lowest in sub-Saharan Africa (47 per cent) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (36 per cent).
In terms of age, one out of every seven international migrants is below the age of 20 years.
The Overseas Citizen of India, or OCI, application process in the United States is being simplified with effect from September 20, 2019, Indian Embassy said in a statement.
Instead of a two-step application process, the applicant will now submit the OCI application form and upload related documents directly at the Government of India website (https://ociservices.gov.in/welcome).
Beginning September 20, 2019, there will also be no restriction of Consular Jurisdiction for OCI applicants. The applicant will be free to apply at Indian Embassy Washington DC or any of the Consulates General of India (CGI) in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York or San Francisco. While submitting the application on the Government of India website, the applicant will need to select the location where he/she wants the OCI application to be processed.
On completion of online application process, the applicant should print the form, related documents and affidavits and submit them at the Outsourcing Partner, Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) office in the selected location.
Details regarding the form filling process, requirement of documents and payment of fees, can be checked at the CKGS website (https://www.in.ckgs.us/oci/how-to-apply).
President Donald Trump offered a dramatic, if legally dubious, promise in a new interview to unilaterally end birthright citizenship, ratcheting up his hardline immigration rhetoric with a week to go before critical midterm elections.
Trump’s vow to end the right to citizenship for the children of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on US soil came in an interview with Axios released Tuesday. Such a step would be regarded as an affront to the US Constitution, which was amended 150 years ago to include the words: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Trump did not say when he would sign the order, and some of his past promises to use executive action have gone unfulfilled. But whether the President follows through on his threat or not, the issue joins a string of actions intended to thrust the matter of immigration into the front of voters’ minds as they head to polls next week.
“We’re looking at that very seriously,” Trump told reporters when leaving the White House for the US state of Kentucky, the Xinhua news agency reported.
“Birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land – walk over the border, have a baby, congratulations, the baby’s now a US citizen,” said the President. “It’s, frankly, ridiculous.”
Trump promised ending the birthright citizenship during his 2016 presidential campaign and once revived the idea last year, according to a report of The Hill.
Earlier Wednesday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan unveiled new policies which will allow the government to detain families crossing the US-Mexico border longer than before. If the new rule survives court challenges, the policy change could permit authorities to detain families through the duration of their immigration proceedings.
The US federal government has sought various ways to curb illegal and legal immigration since Trump was sworn in January 2017. (IANS)
Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways is planning to begin test runs of non-stop flights between Sydney and New York and between Sydney and London later this year. The estimated duration of the flight: 19 hours. The test flights on Boeing 787-9s will only include crew and employees, and no tickets will be sold to the public. One of the objectives is to find out if people can really endure such long hours in a plane.
Qantas isn’t new to long haul aviation. Last year it launched a non-stop service between Perth and London that takes about 17 hours and 20 minutes. Its Sydney-Dallas non-stop flight takes about 17 hours and 15 minutes. In fact, folks in Sydney have endured long flights outside of Qantas — a United Airlines flight between the Australian city and Houston takes 17 hours and 20 minutes.
But that isn’t the longest flight by duration. Poor folks who board the Singapore Airlines non-stop flight from Singapore to New York have to spend 18 hours and 25 minutes pretending to read or endure inane conversations. The Qatar Airways flight between Auckland and Doha is not far behind with a duration of 17 hours and 40 minutes. But at least Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines are the world’s best two airlines, according to Skytrax. Qantas? Ranked 8. The consolation. If one could endure 17 hours or so on a United flight (ranked 68, 10 places behind Indigo), then 19 hours in Qantas should be a breeze, right?
New Delhi: Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco non-stop service on August 15, India’s 73rd Independence Day, created history at 12.27 am — it became the first Indian commercial flight to fly over the Polar region, according to a newsitem in The Hindu BusinessLine.
The flight did its bit to save the environment and also ensured that the journey between the two cities becomes shorter. Air India flight 173 flew with a full complement of passengers.
“Planning for the flight was a challenge. A number of issues had to be addressed, including solar activity in the polar region and magnetic interference in communication, to name just two,” says Amitabh Singh, Director-Operations, Air India, who was involved in planning the flight.
All passengers flying on AI 173 on the August 15 flight were given a certificate that recorded the feat — that the passengers travelled on board the Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft marking the commencement of Air India’s commercial flights over the North Pole.
Asked why the Polar route is so important, Capt Digvijay Singh, who operated the August 15 departure, says the time saved will range from five minutes to 75 minutes. “We have taken an average of 20 minutes for every Polar flight which, on the Boeing 777, means about 2,500 kg of fuel saving and about 7,500 kg of carbon emission reduction. Passengers benefit because the flight time is shorter. The airline benefits because the fuel cost is lower and the environment benefits because carbon emissions come down,” adds Singh. Currently the flight covers the distance in 15 hours and 45 minutes.
Passengers following the flight path on their television screens could see the aircraft flying close to the North. The cabin crew also made an announcement on the public address system.
The opening of the Polar route will help Air India’s operations to all the five cities in the US that it flies to — New York, Newark, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC.
Potentially, the opening of the Polar route could lead to Air India no longer operating the ‘around the world’ flight that it currently plies to reach San Francisco. The Delhi-San Francisco route was launched in 2015.
President Donald Trump said last week he believes he has influence to rally Republicans around stronger federal background check laws as Congress and the White House work on a response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.
At the same time, Trump said he had assured the National Rifle Association that its gun-rights views would be “fully represented and respected.” He said he was hopeful the NRA would not be an obstacle to strengthening the nation’s gun laws.
Trump has promised to lead on tougher gun control measures before, including after the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, but little has come of it. His comments in the wake of the twin massacres marked his most optimistic and supportive words in favor of more stringent gun laws, though he left the details vague and it remained to be seen how much political capital Trump would throw behind marshaling Republicans on the issue.
He said Friday he now is looking for “very meaningful background checks” but is not considering a resurrection of an assault weapons ban. He said he also believes lawmakers will support “red flag” laws that allow guns to be removed from those who may be a danger to themselves and others.
“I see a better feeling right now toward getting something meaningful done,” Trump told reporters when asked why the political environment was different now. “I have a greater influence now over the Senate and the House,” he said at the White House.
“The Republicans are going to be great and lead the charge along with the Democrats,” he declared, saying he’d spoken with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell whom he proclaimed to be “totally onboard.”
But McConnell, thus far, has only committed to a discussion of the issue. Republicans have long opposed expanding background checks — a bill passed by the Democratic-led House is stalled in McConnell’s Senate — but they face new pressure after the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 people dead.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted in response Friday that McConnell must bring up the House-passed legislation, which Trump had previously threatened to veto. “To get anything meaningful done to address gun violence, we need his commitment to hold a Senate vote on the House-passed background checks legislation,” Schumer said.
As for the NRA, which has contributed millions to help Trump and other Republicans, the gun lobby’s chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, said this week that some federal gun control proposals “would make millions of law-abiding Americans less safe and less able to defend themselves and their loved ones.”
The Trump administration is cracking down on green cards for immigrants who’ve spent more than a year on food stamps, Medicaid or other public benefits designated for low-income residents.
Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Monday that beginning Oct. 15 any ‘individual who receives one or more designated public benefits for more than 12 months in the aggregate within any 36 month period’ will not be eligible for a green card.
Individuals who take two public benefits will see that time cut in half, he explained during a briefing at the White House.
‘Our rule generally prevents aliens who are likely to become a public charge from coming to the United States or remaining here and getting a green card,’ he stated. Public benefits are defined in the rule as state, local and federal income-based assistance and some non-cash benefits. That includes Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and most forms of Medicaid.
It does not include benefits for children and pregnant women like the National School Lunch Program or The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Cuccinelli said.
Medical assistance, disaster relief, homeless shelters and Head Start are not part of the rule.
The rule will take effect on Oct. 15 and Cuccinelli said that career officials processing forms will not consider certain non-cash benefits that migrants received prior to that date.
Age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status, education and skills will all be assessed in the application process, he said.
‘No one factor alone will decide an applicant’s case,’ he said of the green cards.
Additionally, migrants that do not meet the qualifications will have the option to adjust their status to that of a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) through the purchase of a public charge bond that the government plans to sell for a minimum of $8,100 a person, and possibly more, depending on the individual’s circumstances.
Cuccinelli insisted that the new rule will ‘help promote immigrant success’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ of immigrants seeking to become Americans.
It’s that same ‘hard-working spirit’ that’s made the U.S. a beacon, he claimed.
Refugees and asylums seekers will not not be affected, nor will human and sex trafficking victims. An exemption for members of the military and their spouses will also be made.
The administration first signaled that it would seek to adjust the legal definition of a ‘public charge’ in September 2018 to make the standards for citizenship more rigorous than they had been.
‘Congress has never defined the charge public charge in the law,’ Cuccinelli said Monday. ‘Well that is what changes today with this rule.’
He announced, ‘Through the public charge rule, President Trump’s administration is reinforcing the ideals of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. Ensuring that immigrants are able to support themselves and becoming successful in America.’
Essentially, U.S. officials are seeking to isolate immigrants they suspect will be a burden to taxpayers by taking citizenship and the legal rights that come with it off the table for needy migrants.
Cuccinelli said that the rule update will merely ensure that existing law is ‘meaningfully enforced’ and puts into effect the authority that Congress has already given the administration.
A White House fact sheet revealed that the administration also plans to use the new rule to keep migrants from ever stepping foot in the country, if the administration decides they’re too risky, based on the updated guidance.
‘Aliens will be barred from entering the United States if they are found likely to become public charges,’ it says.
‘Aliens in the United States who are found likely to become public charges will also be barred from adjusting their immigration status.’
It claimed that non-citizens are abusing welfare benefits intended for poor Americans and taking advantage of the nation’s generosity.
The White House said that that 58 percent of all households that fall into this category are using at least one welfare program and half have at least one person on Medicaid.
Donald Trump has long sought to recast the number of migrants who are allowed to enter country through familial ties via a process called chain migration, where one family member living in America sponsors another, and another, and another.
The process creating a chain of people who might not have the kinds of workplace skills that a growing and industrialized economy warrants.
He also wants to do away with the diversity visa lottery system, that picks applicants for approval at random.
They’re heavily vetted by the State Department before they’re approved for residency. The president has claimed for years, incorrectly, that countries are sending over degenerates.
‘The people that are sent to our country are not the people that we want,’ Trump said earlier this year. ‘They come in through the lottery, they come in through chain migration.’
The country-wide cap on Green Card approval for people who have applied in the US for Permanent Residentship has rendered hundreds of thousands of qualified Indian Techies and other qualified professionals, including Physicians, waiting for decades with uncertainty.
Citizens of Indian and Chinese origin working in the U.S., many of whom are on the H-1B visa intended for highly-skilled workers, face the longest green card waits.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill to help Indian American physicians and technology professionals enabling them to obtain permanent residentship sooner by cutting short the decade-long wait. However, the Bill passed overwhelmingly with 140 Republican members of Congress joining 224 Democrats on Wednesday last week, is facing an unexpected roadblock in the Senate.
If it becomes a law, it will help many of the 300,000 Indian H1-B temporary work visa holders now in the US and in various stages of the green card process.
The “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act,” introduced in February by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), would throw out the annual 7 percent cap on green cards for citizens of any one country. The change would be phased in over three years if the measure passes the Senate and is signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The bill sponsored by 311 Representatives from both parties was adopted on Wednesday and it will remove the limits on the number of permanent residencies or green cards that can be given in a year to citizens of each country in a bid to remove the huge backlog faced by highly qualified applicants from mainly India and China.
“In order for American industries to remain competitive and create more jobs, they must be able to recruit and retain the best talent in the world,” Lofgren said in a news release. She added in an interview after the vote, “If you’ve got your application approved based on merit, the color of your skin or the place of birth should not be the determinant.”
Under Lofgren’s bill, during the first year of implementation, a maximum 85 percent of green cards could be allocated to Indian or Chinese citizens. In the second and third years, that would rise to 90 percent.
David North, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which lobbies for reduced immigration, said in a blog post that big winners under the bill would be wealthy Chinese on the EB-5 investor visa, along with many Indians on the H-1B visa, plus major tech firms employing large numbers of Indian citizens on the H-1B. American workers, North said, would be among the biggest losers, competing for jobs against foreign nationals.
Under the current system, the maximum number of green cards that can be granted to people from any country, whether it is as large as India and China or as small as Maldives and Luxembourg, is 7 per cent of the total, which is about 26,000 annually.
This quota affects Indian technology professionals and other highly qualified people leading to a wait of 10 years during which those already here on temporary H1-B work visas face uncertainty about their and their families’ future prospects.
The bill, officially known as Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, seeks to eliminate the cap and allow up to 85 per cent of the green cards to be given to Indians and Chinese in the first two years and 90 per cent in the third year in order to clear the backlog. After that, the backlogs are likely to build up unless there is a comprehensive immigration reform.
The bill has been opposed by both the extreme left and the right. Two important leftist members, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, were among the eight Democrats who voted against it. On the Republican side, 57 voted against it.
If a similar bill introduced by Indian-American Democrat Senator Kamala Harris and Republican Senator Mike Lee is adopted after overcoming last minute obstacles, it is likely to get President Donald Trump’s approval as it meshes in with his immigration reform proposal to do away with country quotas and give priority to highly qualified immigrants.
The legislation would come at a time when India has complained about the increased scrutiny and higher rates of denial of H1-B applications for Indian. And this has become a point of contention between the two countries. It is also possible that Trump may hold it up as negotiating ploy in the trade dispute.
Democrat Representative Zoe Lofgren, who was the main mover behind the legislation, said American industries needed it to remain competitive as they were finding it “increasingly difficult when workers from high-population countries must compete for the same limited number of visas as workers from low population countries”.
Republican Representative John Curtis, put it more succinctly saying, the bill “will create a first-come, first-serve system providing certainty to workers and families and enabling US companies to flourish and compete in a global economy as they hire the brightest people to create products, services, and jobs – regardless of where they were born”.
It was welcomed by technology companies, many of which lobbied for it. Amazon tweeted: “Thank you to @RepZoeLofgren and the 311 House cosponsors for supporting the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.”
But it has run into problems in the Senate. Senator Rand Paul had held up the Senate version from coming to vote demanding that it include a quota for nurses as they may be swamped by technology professionals.
A medical doctor, Paul is nominally a Republican but ideologically a libertarian who defies party lines. It was a sudden turn around for him because in previous years he had even co-sponsored similar versions of the bill, which failed to make headway.
Although for a different reason, he finds himself on the same side as some Democrats who oppose it because it does not increase the yearly total number of green cards, which is around a million now, and others including hardline right-wingers who say the immigrating technology professionals will undercut American workers and also because Indian and Chinese people will overwhelm the immigration system.
Lee had earlier overcome the objections of another Republican Senator Charles Grassley by agreeing to insert provisions for better enforcement of H1-B regulations. This is not in the House bill and a compromise would have to be worked out it passes the Senate before going to Trump for his signature.
Trump administration’s increased scrutiny of the H-1B visa program has forced Indian citizens to prefer Canada over the United States for permanent residency. There is growing uncertainty in the United States over the future of Indian techies because of the Trump administration’s focus on giving preference to locals for jobs. In fact, the current administration wants to replace the existing Green Cards system with the proposed Build America visa.
In 2018, more than 39,500 Indians opted for permanent residency in Canada. The country’s express entry program has been quite a success in attracting highly skilled foreign workers, especially India’s IT professionals.
Newly released statistics highlight that Canada granted permanent residency to over 92,000 new residents in 2018. In the previous year, Canada had only 65,500 permanent residents, out of which 26,300 were from India. The number of Indian citizens to be awarded permanent residency has increased by 51% from 2017. China secured the second rank in 2017 but slipped to the third in 2018. Meanwhile, Nigeria holds the second rank in acquiring permanent residency in 2018.
The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada report states, “The top countries of citizenship based on the people admitted to Canada generally mirrors those of invited candidates. Nearly half of all people admitted in 2018 had Indian citizenship.” The Justin Trudeau-led government has created ample amount of opportunities for permanent entry residents.
Canada’s express entry program is similar to the US’s green card system. With the increasing scrutiny in obtaining the H-1B visa, skilled workers are moving towards Canada. The US visa system is suffering through delays, denials of visa extensions, green card backlogs and the proposed plan to revoke the work authorisation of H-1B spouses.
The Global Talent Stream (GTS) has helped Canada become a preferred destination for Indian techies. GTS is a merit-based work visa process. Canadian companies are increasingly using GTS to bring expats with STEM background within two weeks. The program has helped in increasing the flow of Indian employees to Canada.
The express entry program draws are held periodically. The most recent one was conducted on June 21. Canada’s multi-year immigration plan has a target to welcome 3.30 lakh immigrants in 2019, and 3.40 lakh in 2020.
There are 630,000 undocumented Indians in the United States, according to a study by the South Asian Americans Leading Together, known as SAALT. The report also said that South Asian population in the United States has grown by 40 percent since 2010.
“By 2065, Asian Americans are on track to be the largest immigrant population in the U.S. The South Asian population in the U.S. grew a staggering 40% in seven years, from 3.5 million in 2010 to 5.4 million in 2017,” SAALT said in a statement.
Here are some other findings: The Nepali community grew by 206.6% since 2010, followed by Indian (38%), Bhutanese (38%), Pakistani (33%), Bangladeshi (26%), and Sri Lankan populations (15%).
There are at least 630,000 Indians who are undocumented, a 72% increase since 2010. There are currently at least 4,300 active South Asian DACA recipients.
Income inequality has been reported to be the greatest among Asian Americans. Nearly 10% of the approximately five million South Asians in the U.S. live in poverty.
There has been a rise in the number of South Asians seeking asylum in the U.S. over the last 10 years. ICE has detained 3,013 South Asians since 2017. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol arrested 17,119 South Asians between October 2014 and April 2018 through border and interior enforcement.
The South Asian community in the United States includes individuals who trace their ancestry to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The community also includes members of the South Asian diaspora – past generations of South Asians who originally settled in other parts of the world, including the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, Canada and the Middle East, and other parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands. South Asian Americans include citizens, legal permanent residents, students, H-1B and H-4 visa holders, DACA recipients, and undocumented immigrants.
“As we witness this unprecedented growth in our communities, it is more important than ever that the needs of the most vulnerable South Asian populations are met. South Asians are impacted by the full spectrum of federal immigration policies – from detention and deportation to H-4 visa work authorization and denaturalization to the assault on public benefits,” said SAALT’s Interim Co-Executive Director Lakshmi Sridaran. “An accurate Census 2020 population count is essential to distributing critical federal funding to our communities. A citizenship question on the census would chill thousands of community members, resulting in a severe undercount, with at least 600,000 South Asians in the country not being counted and thousands more deterred. And, this means even fewer resources to the communities who need it the most.”
SAALT’s demographic snapshot is based primarily on Census 2010 and the 2017 American Community Survey.
Earlier this month, reports had suggested that the US was looking to curb the number of H-1B visa recipients from India as a tit-for-tat response for the country’s data localisation efforts, which were hurting North American tech giants like Visa and MasterCard.
However, during his ongoing three-day visit to the country, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the Indian government confirmed that there were no such plans, India Today reported on June 26.
“The United States’ global leadership in technology has been made possible, in part, by its ability to attract the most talented workers from around the world,” India’s IT trade association Nasscom said in a statement on June 20, when the headlines about restricting H-1B visa allocations first floated. “If US policy makes it more difficult to hire advanced tech workers, it will only weaken the US companies that depend on them to help fill their skills gaps, put jobs at risk, creating pressure to send technology services abroad.”
Filling the skills gap
The US bureau of labor statistics predicts that in 2020 there will be 1.4 million more software development jobs in the country than applicants who can fill them.
By 2030, the US could lose out on $162 billion-worth (Rs 11 lakh crore) of revenues annually in the tech sector alone unless it finds more high-tech workers, a 2018 study by management consulting firm Korn Ferry found. Meanwhile, India could become the next tech leader since the country is poised to have a surplus of over a million high-skilled tech workers by 2030.
The US government has informed India that it is considering capping H-1B visas to countries that force foreign firms to store data locally, Reuters reported on Wednesday night.
The proposal is expected to further worsen economic ties between Washington and New Delhi, which have been affected by a recent row over trade tariffs. The news also comes days ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to New Delhi on June 24. Pompeo will be the first senior US official to visit India after the Narendra Modi dispensation returned to power after elections.
The H-1B visa programme allows companies to bring skilled personnel from overseas to work in their facilities in the US under an yearly quota. Approximately 85,000 H-1B visas are granted each year, on which there is no country-specific limit; as many as 70 per cent of these visas are issued to Indians.
The Reuters report claimed two “senior” Indian government officials were briefed a week ago about the US plan to cap the number of H-1B visas issued to Indians “at between 10 per cent and 15 per cent” of the annual quota.
The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reported last week that about 9,000 Indians were caught entering the US illegally last year, a dramatic increase from the 3,162 in 2017.
The CBP’s statement comes after a 7 yr old girl’s body was discovered near the Lukeville and Quitobaquito Springs in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument biosphere reserve, a forbidding landscape in the dry and arid Arizona state.
The discovery of the body of a seven-year-old Indian girl in a treacherous desert area in the state of Arizona has put the spotlight on rising illegal immigrants from India trying to cross into the US through Mexico.
The CBP said the girl died while she and four others, including an Indian woman and her eight-year-old daughter, were dropped off near the Mexico-US border by “human smugglers who ordered the group to cross (into the US) in the dangerous and austere location”.
A temperature of 42 degrees Celsius was recorded on Thursday in that area. The CBP said that on Thursday its agents had encountered two Indian women who told them that three others in the group had become separated from them and a search was started for them. The body was found during the search and recovered by the local sheriff’s department.
Later that day, the agents found footprints indicating the other two, the mother and daughter, had crossed back into Mexico and authorities there began to look for them. However, the two returned to the US side of the border and surrendered to CPB agents and were hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate General in San Francisco is trying to help the victim’s family. A consul, Sumati Rao, told IANS in an e-mailed statement on Friday: “The Consulate is deeply distressed with the sad loss of a young life. We are in touch with the CBP officials on the situation. We have also reached out to the family and offered assistance.”
None of them has been identified and officials did not disclose if the dead child was related to any of the others in the group. In 2018, about 260 people reportedly died while crossing illegally from Mexico, most of them due to the harsh environment with long stretches of desert along the border.
President Donald Trump’s administration has been trying to contain an upsurge of illegal immigration mostly by Central Americans on the Mexican border. Last month, the CPB detained 144,200 illegal immigrants, the most for a single month in 13 years.
In a growing trend, many of those trying to illegally enter the US are bringing along children in hopes that they would get lenient treatment and early release from detention while their case – usually an appeal for asylum – is processed.
Human smugglers, known locally as “coyotes”, often leave illegal immigrants in desert or other inhospitable environments or keep them hostages to demand more payments or traffic them. Vowing to fight the coyotes, Trump said in February: “My administration has made the fight against human trafficking one of our highest priorities.”
Four spouses of H-1B visa holding workers who are facing undue delays in getting their H-4 visa extension and work authorisation applications renewed have sued the Trump administration. A petition filed on June 6 in a US district court points out that the intentional processing delay by the United States and Citizenship Immigration Services (USCIS), which adjudicates visa applications and extensions, has placed the plaintiffs (who filed the petition) and numerous other H-4 and H-4 EAD applicants in danger of losing their jobs, medical insurance (provided by the employer), and driver’s licences. The delay has strained the finances of the applicants and their families, and adversely impacted their employers, says the petition, demanding timely disposal of these applications.
Spouses of H-1B visa holders who are working in the US get a dependent (H-4) visa, the duration of which is coterminus with the tenure granted to the principal visa holder. The H-4 visa itself does not enable the spouse to work or be self-employed. Only those spouses where the principal H-1B worker is on track for a green card (permanent residency) can obtain an employment authorization document (EAD), which is the work permit.
USCIS taking up to 8.5 months to process H-4 visa applications
The EAD also enables the spouse to obtain a social security number and thus operate a bank account or obtain a driver’s license. Emily Neumann, partner at immigration law firm Reddy & Neumann (the firm representing the plaintiffs), told TOI: “We have argued that it takes USCIS adjudicators an average of merely 24 minutes to process Form I-539 (application to extend non-immigration status) and 12 minutes to process Form I-765 (application for employment authorization), yet it takes USCIS up to 8.5 months to adjudicate these applications according to current processing times.”
Both the H-4 extension and H-4 EAD are immigrant benefits that the US Congress expects the USCIS to complete within 30 days. The petition filed in the court (a copy of which is with TOI) explains that unlike H-1B, which allows the visa holder to work for a certain grace period while the extension is pending approval, no such rule exists for H-4 EAD holders. This creates a significant need for the applications to be dealt with in a timely and expeditious manner.
An H-4 EAD application cannot be approved without a valid H-4. As of May 2019, USCIS processing times for an H-4 application were as long as eight and a half months. Processing times for H-4 EAD is approximately 5 months currently, the petition adds.
“In many cases, while the H-1B extensions have been granted, the H-4 spouses continue to wait, losing out on jobs, medical insurance, and driver’s licences because they did not receive their EADs in time,” adds Neumann.
“The Trump administration has expressed its intention to revoke the EAD program. Meanwhile, it appears that the administration is building invisible blocks by delaying processing of our applications,” says an individual who is currently waiting for her H-4 extension and EAD renewal.
It is reminding me of camel who sought permission for small portion in tent to protect its neck from outside cold and ultimately kicked off the owner of tent from tent all together.Revocations of H-1B Visas Rise in New Front Against Immigration Comtrix Solutions Inc., a Virginia-based health care staffing company, got approval to bring in skilled foreign workers on H-1B visas for several clients in October 2018, six months after it applied.
But by that time, the original clients had moved on because they couldn’t wait that long for workers whose appearance wasn’t even guaranteed. When the government caught wind of the change, it accused Comtrix of lying about where the workers would be placed and revoked the H-1B petitions on the grounds of fraud.
Immigration attorneys say such revocations, along with denying extensions of H-1Bs that used to be granted routinely, are the latest in a series of steps by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to crack down on the specialty occupation visa heavily used by tech companies. In April, employers submitted 201,011 petitions for 85,000 H-1B visas available starting in October.
“There’s no question that there are cases, H-1B petitions, that have been approvable for the last 20 years that aren’t approvable today,” said H. Ronald Klasko of Klasko Immigration Law Partners in Philadelphia. “The law hasn’t changed, just their standards.”
There are no publicly available records on how often H-1Bs are revoked. But “revocations are now starting to be as common as denials,” which shot up to a total of 15.5% of all petitions decided in fiscal year 2018 from 7.4 percent the prior year, said Bradley Banias of Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms in Charleston, S.C.
The USCIS’ implementation of President Donald Trump‘s Buy American and Hire American executive order, released in April 2017, has resulted in a high level of H-1B scrutiny, with longer processing times and more denials for businesses, especially the information technology consulting industry. The industry has been flagged in the past for displacing U.S.-born tech workers.
Jonathan Wasden of Economic Immigration Support Services in Reston, Va., who’s filed a lawsuit on Comtrix’s behalf, accused USCIS of targeting staffing companies.
“They’re trying to prohibit the consulting industry from using the H-1B,” said Wasden, who recently joined the immigration firm Reddy & Newman as counsel for litigation. “It’s no accident that the delays” in H-1B processing last year “were really targeted toward the consulting industry,” he said.
The authority to revoke H-1B petitions comes from the Department of Homeland Security regulations, agency spokesman Philip Smith said.
He said the USCIS may send a notice of intent to revoke if the worker is no longer working for the petitioning employer in the capacity listed in the original petition; there was fraud, misrepresentation, or the facts originally presented weren’t true; the employer violated the terms and conditions of the approved petition or the law; or the approval violated the regulations or “involved gross error.”
Separately, the agency said it “does not believe that recent policy changes have led to a purported increase in H-1B revocations.”
“H-1B revocations are based on 8 CFR 214.2(h)(11), and that regulatory provision, including the interpretation of that provision, remains unchanged,” an agency official said. “There are no pending policy changes for H-1B revocations.”
Immigration lawyers, however, point to two causes of the crackdown: an October 2017 USCIS memo overturning a George W. Bush administration policy that said adjudicators deciding H-1B extension applications generally should defer to decisions on the prior applications; and a February 2018 policy requiring employers that place their H-1B workers at third-party sites to provide additional documentation over and above what other employers must submit.
The 2018 policy requires employers to list every contract and work site the H-1B worker will be working on for the duration of the visa, a requirement that Banias and Wasden are suing over.
“They get away with it if no one challenges it in court,” Klasko said of the revocations. A challenge to the practice, as opposed to a lawsuit over a one-time revocation, “could be a good case to litigate,” he said.
Klasko, who heads an American Immigration Lawyers Association task force devoted to litigating business immigration issues, said he and others on the task force are considering whether to file such a broad challenge.
“They can’t just revoke” an H-1B because the current administration wouldn’t have approved a petition approved by a prior administration, he said. Rather, revocation requires that there was “clear error” in the original approval, he said.
Revocation creates an additional headache over and above delays and denials: the need to “get that person out of the country quickly” to avoid penalties for being in the U.S. unlawfully, Banias said. H-1B workers have 30 days to exit the U.S. after receiving a revocation notice.
It also means that, rather than simply reapplying for another H-1B visa, the worker’s application has to go through the H-1B lottery a second time, and may not get selected, he said.
Two Congresswomen from California have re-introduced legislation May 29, to protect the much-treasured work authorization for spouses on H-4 Visas, which affect mostly women from India. But even as the Trump administration has warned it is moving toward revoking the privilege, a leading attorney who was behind drafting the Obama-era rule, says the right to work is not going anywhere fast.
Representatives Anna G. Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren, both Democrats, reintroduced the “H-4 Employment Protection Act,” in a renewed bid to prevent the Trump Administration from revoking an Obama-era rule that extends work authorization to certain spouses of H-1B visa holders, including thousands of immigrants in Silicon Valley. Indian spouses, mostly women, were the largest beneficiaries of the H-4EAD.
Currently, the H-4 EAD removal proposal is with the Office of Management and Budget which is reviewing it, and during which time stakeholders are allowed to meet with OMB. The publi comment period will begin after the proposal has been approved by OMB, and published in the Federal Register.
The introduction of such a legislation comes days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it would publish this month the long-promised regulation that would prevent the work authorisation to spouses on H-4 visas. H-4 visas are issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India.
This week, the Trump administration announced plans to overturn current the DHS regulations that allow certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders who are stuck in green card backlogs to obtain employment authorisation, pursue their own professional goals and contribute to the US economy, said the lawmakers Anna G Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren.
Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled professionals, and the DHS previously extended eligibility for employment authorisation to them recognising the economic burdens of families of many H-1B workers, particularly those who live in high cost areas like Silicon Valley on a single income as they await green card approvals, they said.
Since the rule was implemented, over 100,000 workers, mainly women, have received employment authorization, and the H-4 Employment Protection Act prohibits the Trump administration from revoking this important rule. “H-4 visa holders deserve a chance to contribute to their local economies and provide for their families,” Eshoo said.
“This is a matter of economic fairness and this legislation ensures it will continue,” she added. H-4 visa holders had obtained work permits under a special order issued by the previous Obama administration. Indian-Americans were a major beneficiary of this provision.
More than one lakh H-4 visa holders have been beneficiary of this rule. “While the Trump administration sits on its hands and does nothing, American citizens in-waiting are stuck in line for their number to come up,” Lofgren said.
“Nobody benefits from this system, least of all the American economy, when H-1B dependent spouses are prohibited from working. Many of these are accomplished and qualified individuals whose skills we’ll lose to other countries unless the Administration finds a more sensible approach to immigration,” she said.
Since the work authorization rule was implemented in 2015, according to various estimates, around 70,000 to 100,000 workers, mainly high-skilled women from India, have received employment authorization.
According to Doug Rand, founder of boundless.com, an firm that says its mission is to help immigrants “navigate the immigration system more confidently, rapidly, and affordably”, the demise of H4-EAD, is not on the near horizon. Rand was Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship, in the Obama White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, and played a key role in drafting the H-4EAD rule.
Doug Rand, co-founder and president of Boundless Immigration, and former Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship in President Obama’s White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. (Photo: LinkedIn)
“It’s important to understand that the administration hasn’t even officially started the process of eliminating work permits for H-4 visa holders,” Rand told News India Times in an email response to a query. Rand was one of the principal drafters of the Obama-era rule that created the EAD.
“The first step, a “proposed rule,” is expected within the next few months, typically followed by a two-month period for public comments,” Rand said. “Then USCIS must process all of these comments (which will probably number in the tens of thousands), formulate a response, and publish a “final rule.” Only then will H-4 work permit applications and extensions be prohibited going forward.”
According to Rand, “This whole process, start to finish, will probably take 6 months at the very least, and usually takes over 12 months.” He predicts there will “almost certainly” be lawsuits seeking to freeze the USCIS final rule while the litigation makes its way through the courts.
“Therefore it’s safe to conclude that (a) nobody with a current work permit is going to lose it until it expires, (b) any prohibition of new H-4 work permit applications and extensions is probably at least 6 months away, and (c) there’s a reasonable chance that the courts will preserve H-4 EADs in the long run.”
The H.R. 1044, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, if passed, would cut the decades of wait times for skilled immigrants who are stuck in the green card backlog by eliminating the caps.
Bill 1044, which has 297 co-sponsors as of now and has been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, and eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas, apart from other stipulations.
Meanwhile, on the H-4EAD protection bill, Eshoo and Lofgren pointed to the rationale for the work authorization, noting that it recognized the economic burdens that families of many H-1B workers, particularly those who live in high cost areas like Silicon Valley on a single income, while in the green-card pipeline.
“H-4 visa holders deserve a chance to contribute to their local economies and provide for their families,” Rep. Eshoo is quoted saying in a May 29 press release. “This is a matter of economic fairness and this legislation ensures it will continue.”
After a series of delays, the federal government is now saying it will this month publish a long-promised rule to strip spouses of H-1B visa holders of their right to work. The news came via an update to the federal government’s “unified agenda.” The page dedicated to the planned work-ban has been changed to provide a new time-frame for the draft rule to be published, saying it will happen this month.
The prohibition would affect wives and husbands of H-1B visa holders on track for a green card. University of Tennessee researchers have estimated that 93 percent of the approximately 100,000 spouses, who are on the H-4 visa, are women from India.
In February, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pushed the rule into its final stages, sending it to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Under the rule-making process, the budget office can recommend changes, before kicking the proposed rule back to Homeland Security.
However, reports suggest the rule is still awaiting approval from the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is part of the budget office, said Migration Policy Institute analyst Sarah Pierce.
Get breaking H-1B and other news and alerts with our free mobile app. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store. According to the law, the information and regulatory affairs office has until June 20 to review the rule, Pierce said.
“Should it approve it, the rule could be published shortly thereafter,” Pierce said. “Assuming it gets approved, I do think we will see the published proposed rule this summer, but it does seem unlikely that we’ll see it in May, as the unified agenda seems to imply.”
Publication of the draft rule in the federal register is expected to trigger a public-comment period. Public comment periods for new federal rules typically last 30 to 60 days, but can extend to 180 days or more.
Under certain circumstances, rules can be finalized without a comment period, but Citizenship and Immigration director L. Francis Cissna said in a Sept. 6 letter to the Internet Association — which represents major tech firms such as Facebook and Google — that “the public will be given an opportunity to provide feedback during a notice and comment period on any revisions to regulations that DHS determines are appropriate, including revisions relating to the H-4 Rule.”
Homeland Security, on the unified agenda page dedicated to the work-ban plan, has said that some U.S. workers would benefit from the prohibition “by having a better chance at obtaining jobs that some of the population of the H-4 workers currently hold.”
A number of Bay Area residents on the H-4 have told this news organization that if they can’t work, they will likely leave the U.S. with their families.
Lawsuits seeking to block implementation of the rule are expected, according to Doug Rand, co-founder of Boundless Immigration — a technology company helping families with immigration — and a former White House official under Obama who helped implement the H-4 work authorization.
The administration of President Donald Trump, under his “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, has taken aim at the controversial H-1B visa, increasing the rate of visa denials and demands for more evidence that workers and jobs qualify for the visa. Silicon Valley tech firms rely heavily on the H-1B, and push for an increase to the annual 85,000 cap on new visas, arguing that they use the visa program to secure the world’s top talent. Critics point to reported abuses by outsourcing companies, and contend that the H-1B is used to supplant American workers with cheaper foreign labor.
After five years sitting pretty at the top, Germany has been knocked off its most-powerful-passport-in-the-world perch: A new “live index” shows that Japan is now number one, offering their citizens visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 190 destinations, having recently obtained visa-free access to Myanmar. Singapore and South Korea come in second, with visa-free access to just (sigh, just) 189 countries, while Germany and France round out the top three, offering visa-free access to 188 countries.
The index, created by London-based consulting firm Henley & Partners with the International Air Transport Association (which has the world’s largest database of travel information), judges the top passports in the world by how much visa-free travel they allow. Generally, visa requirements are indicative of a country’s relationship with another—reciprocity, as illustrated by the contentious battle over U.S. travelers’ visa-free access to Europe, is often an expectation. In the past, this was an annual list, released every January. Now, “the site is updated in real-time as visa-policy changes come into effect,” says a spokesperson for Henley & Partners, which is why the list changes every few months.
The United Kingdom and the U.S. have slid down one spot since last year—from fifth to sixth—with access to 185 destinations, largely because neither of them have gotten any new visa-free access since 2018. And though the countries once jointly held the top spot in 2015, their ascendance to number one yet again seems unlikely, in large part because “Asian high-performers such as Japan, Singapore, and South Korea” continue to open up (and in turn, receive) visa access to more and more countries.
The passport to watch? The United Arab Emirates, which has climbed from 62nd place in 2006 to its current rank of 22nd. On the lower end of the list are Iraq and Afghanistan, which sit at the bottom of the index and each have visa-free access to just 30 destinations worldwide. Here, a look at the top 27 countries.
1. Japan 190 countries can be visited without a visa =2. Singapore, South Korea 189 =3. Germany, France 188 =4. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden 187 =5. Luxembourg, Spain 186 =6. Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, U.K., U.S. 185 =7. Belgium, Canada, Greece, Ireland 184 8. Czech Republic 183 9. Malta 182 =10. Australia, Iceland, New Zealand 181
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing major racial or ethnic group in the United States. More than 20 million Asians live in the U.S., and almost all trace their roots to 19 origin groups from East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Significant differences exist by income, education and other characteristics among the nation’s largest 19 Asian origin groups. These differences have been central to debates about how much data governments, colleges and other groups should collect about Asian origin groups, and whether it should be used to shape policies.
Here are some key differences between Asian origin groups in the U.S. and how they compare with Asian Americans overall.
1Six origin groups – Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese – accounted for 85% of all Asian Americans as of 2015. These groups together largely shape the overall demographic characteristics of Asian Americans. The remaining 13 origin groups each made up 2% or less of the nation’s Asian population. These groups have a variety of characteristics that can differ greatly from the largest groups.
2About half of Asians in the U.S. ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more in 2015, a higher share than other races and ethnicities, but this share varies greatly by origin group. Those of Indian, Malaysian or Mongolian origin, for example, were more likely than other Asian origin groups to have at least a bachelor’s degree. By comparison, fewer than 20% of Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians and Bhutanese had a bachelor’s degree or more. Roughly a third of all Americans ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or more.
The differences in educational attainment among origin groups in part reflect the levels of education immigrants bring to the U.S. For example, 72% of U.S. Indians had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2015. Many of them already had a bachelor’s degree when they arrived in the U.S. with a visa for high-skilled workers, such as an H-1B visa. Half of H-1B visas, which require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, have gone to Indians since 2001.
3Seven-in-ten U.S. Asians ages 5 and older speak English proficiently. Large majorities of Japanese (84%), Filipinos (82%) and Indians (80%) spoke English proficiently in 2015. By contrast, Bhutanese (27%) and Burmese (28%) had some of the lowest rates of English proficiency.
4Income inequality is rising more rapidly among Asian Americans than other racial or ethnic groups, reflecting wide disparities in income among Asian origin groups. Asian households in the U.S. had a median annual income of $73,060 in 2015, higher than the $53,600 among all U.S. households. Only four Asian origin groups had household incomes that exceeded the national median for Asian Americans overall: Indians ($100,000), Filipinos ($80,000) and Sri Lankans and Japanese (both $74,000). By contrast, most of the other 15 origin groups were well below the national median for Asian Americans, including the two with the lowest median household incomes – Nepalese ($43,500) and Burmese ($36,000).
5As with education and income, poverty rates vary widely among Asians in the U.S. Asians overall had a poverty rate of 12.1% in 2015, 3 percentage points lower than the U.S. poverty rate (15.1%). Bhutanese (33.3%) and Burmese (35.0%) had the highest poverty rates among all Asian origin groups – more than twice the national average and more than four times the poverty rates among Filipinos and Indians (both 7.5%).
6Immigrants make up a higher share of some Asian origin groups than others. Among all Asians in the U.S., nearly six-in-ten were foreign born in 2015, significantly larger than the immigrant share among Americans overall (13%) and other racial and ethnic groups that same year.
Some Asian groups arrived as immigrants more recently than others. For instance, 85% of Burmese in the U.S. are foreign born, and many of them arrived as refugees starting in 2007. Eight-in-ten Burmese immigrants (81%) have been in the country for 10 years or less.
But not all U.S. Asian groups have high foreign-born shares. For instance, the first Japanese immigrants came to the U.S. in the 19th century as plantation workers in what is now the state of Hawaii. More recently, fewer Japanese immigrants have arrived to the U.S. compared with other Asian origin groups. This history is reflected in the low share of Japanese Americans who are immigrants (27%). Additionally, among Japanese immigrants, two-thirds (64%) have been in the country for more than 10 years.
7Among Asian immigrants, 58% have become U.S. citizens, though naturalization rates vary widely. Nearly eight-in-ten Hmong and Vietnamese immigrants are U.S. citizens (77% and 75%), the highest shares among U.S. Asian groups. Differences in naturalization rates reflect how long immigrants have lived in the U.S. Large numbers of Vietnamese and Hmong arrived in the U.S. as refugees starting in the 1970s and have had more time to naturalize. By contrast, many Bhutanese have arrived in the U.S. as refugees starting in 2008 (98% of Bhutanese immigrants have been in the U.S. for 10 years or less) and only 6% have naturalized, the lowest share of any group.
For more information on Asians in the U.S., see Pew Research Center’s detailed fact sheets for each national origin group and the methodology for the analysis.
US President Donald Trump has unveiled a plan to reform the nation’s immigration system, intended to favor high-skilled immigrants and restrict family-based migration. President Trump unveiled an outline for reshaping how immigrants are admitted into the country — seeking to promote a more comprehensive approach to immigration ahead of a reelection campaign in which Democrats plan to portray his hard-line approach at the border as racist.
The new proposal, an effort led primarily by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, appears destined for the congressional dustbin, with no clear strategy from the White House to turn it into law and essentially no support from Democrats who control half of Capitol Hill.
Currently, about two-thirds of the 1.1 million people allowed to migrate to the nation each year are given green cards granting permanent residency because of family ties. Trump’s plan, which does not add protections to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, is expected to draw little support from Democrats who have railed against the administration’s lack of support for so-called “Dreamers,” who were brought to the United States as children by undocumented parents.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed the proposal as “condescending,” signaling that Democrats would not support legislation that does not include a pathway to citizenship. “They say family is without merit — are they saying most of the people that come to the US in the history of our country are without merit, because they don’t have an engineering degree,” Pelosi asked at her weekly press conference on Thursday.
But the White House and its allies on Capitol Hill have emphasized that the plan — few details of which have been publicly released — is primarily to showcase the kind of immigration that Trump and Republicans can support ahead of next year’s elections.
“We are proposing an immigration plan that puts the jobs, wages and safety of American workers first,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden in front of an audience of Cabinet officials and GOP lawmakers. “Our proposal is pro-American, pro-immigrant and pro-worker. It’s just common sense.”
The president’s bid to sketch out a vision that could appeal beyond his conservative base represented a potentially risky shift at a time when he is eyeing a tough reelection campaign in which he believes immigration will play a major role.
Speaking at the White House, Trump on Thursday said that his plan aims to create a “fair, modern and lawful system of immigration for the US”, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The biggest change we make is to increase the proportion of highly skilled immigration from 12 per cent to 57 per cent, and we’d like to even see if we can go higher,” Trump said. “This will bring us in line with other countries and make us globally competitive.”
“We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country. But a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill,” said the president, noting that immigrants, under the plan, will also be “required to learn English and to pass a civics exam prior to admission.”
According to the White House, the proposal would tighten family-based migration to focus on allowing nuclear families who migrate to the US, rather than extended family members.
The effort, championed by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, also focuses on beefing up border security. Trump has claimed that the nation is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers and sought to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico by declaring a national emergency so as to bypass Congress and unlock billions of US dollars in funding.
The new White House proposal does not change the net level of green cards allocated each year, but rather prioritizes high-skilled workers over those with family members who are U.S. citizens. It would allow applicants to rack up eligibility based on factors such as age, ability to speak English, job offers and educational background under what Trump called a new “Build America” visa.
But the proposal also sidesteps some major components of the nation’s immigration system that can be far more complex and controversial to resolve, such as the fate of the estimated 11 million immigrants without legal status and visas for temporary, low-skilled workers — issues that have divided the Republican Party and pit the business community against labor unions.
In response to US President Donald Trump announced his “merit based” immigration proposal, Democrat Senator Kamala Harris invoked her unique background as a presidential candidate — being the daughter of an Indian immigrant.
“I found the announcement today to be shortsighted,” CNN quoted Harris as saying on Thursday before an Asian American audience in Las Vegas.
On the plan’s intention to award immigrants certain points based on education or skills, Harris said: “We cannot allow people to start parsing and pointing fingers and creating hierarchies among immigrants.
“The beauty of the tradition of our country has been to say, when you walk through the door, you are equal. We spoke those words in 1776, ‘we are all equal’ and should be treated that way. Not, oh well, if you come from this place, you might only have a certain number of points, and if you come from that place you might have a different number of points.”
Asians have historically immigrated as family units, Harris added.
“It is, and has always been, about family. And that was completely overlooked, and I would suggest, denied, in the way the policy was outlined today.”
At the event hosted by an Asian American group, One APIA Nevada, Harris dove into her barrier-breaking election to the US Senate as the first South Asian to serve in the body’s history. She acknowledged her presidential run as a biracial woman helping to shatter notions about being black, Asian and a woman.
In her campaign stump speech, Harris always includes stories about how her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, impacted every aspect of her life. And while she has spoken about visits to India during her book tour, Harris on the trail has leaned far more into the African American identity her mother raised her to embrace.
An audience member asked Harris if she would consider wearing a traditional Indian saree to her inauguration.
“Let’s first win,” Harris responded. “My mother raised us with a very strong appreciation for our cultural background and pride. Celebrations that we all participate in regardless of how our last name is spelled. It’s the beauty of who we are as a nation.” (IANS)
National carrier Air India, which had commenced direct services from Mumbai to New York’s John F Kennedy airport in December 2018, has decided to discontinue the flights, reportedly owing to poor demand.
AI officials said the Mumbai-New York flight operation was causing losses to the airline. However, the airline will continue to operate direct flights from Mumbai to Newark.
An AI spokesperson said the Mumbai-New York flight, operated thrice a week, was temporarily suspended in February owing to the Pakistan airspace closure and was expected to resume in June.
“However, we won’t be resuming the services. The flight has been discontinued owing to poor load factor or low seat occupancy,” the spokesperson said.
The official said AI has not included the flight in their winter schedule, which usually commences from third week of October up to second week of March in the next year.
Other AI flight operations to the US from Delhi have been witnessing up to 80% seat occupancy.
AI operates Boeing B777-ER aircraft to operate flights to Newark, Washington, Chicago (from Hyderabad via Delhi), San Francisco and New York from Delhi.
The national carrier had planned to commence the direct flight from Mumbai to New York, thrice a week, from October 2018.
However, it had to delay the operations to December owing to fleet crunch.
Meanwhile, the flying time of US-bound flights from Delhi has seen an increase by three hours as they are being re-routed via Mumbai or Ahmedabad. This has led to heavy losses for the airline, said AI officers.
Air India has 16 Boeing B777-ER planes, of which four were grounded because of unavailability of spare parts in October. However, according to AI chairman and managing director (CMD), Ashwani Lohani, all the planes are operational now.
In October, AI had re- launched its other direct Mumbai-Frankfurt flight, which was suspended in 2010.
The blockade on Qatar and withdrawal of 28 weekly between Doha and cities of New Delhi and Mumbai has increased the pressure on available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the airline said Thursday.
Qatar Airways, which has sought additional seat capacity on temporary basis for its flights from Indian cities to Doha, has said it will “seriously” consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers.
The blockade on Qatar and withdrawal of 28 weekly between Doha and cities of New Delhi and Mumbai has increased the pressure on available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the airline said Thursday.
Jet Airways shut down operations temporarily on April 17 after it ran out of cash.
“Qatar Airways is always open for partnership with other airlines, including Indian carriers. We will seriously consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers,” the airline said in a statement to PTI.
The Gulf carrier has submitted a formal request to the Indian authorities for an additional capacity on a temporary operating permit basis to meet the air traffic demand in Qatar-India routes.
The airline asked the civil aviation ministry to favourably consider its request for additional seat capacity “to help evacuate the stranded Indian passengers in Doha”.
Airfares have already significantly increased due to the unexpected unavailability of restricted capacity during this summer peak season, it added.
The allocated seat capacity in the Qatar-India aviation market has not been increased since 2009. Bilateral air traffic rights are negotiated between the two countries.
According to the airline, the “illegal blockade” imposed on Qatar in June 2017 by the UAE, Saudi, Bahrain, and Egypt has restricted the movement of not only Qataris but also Indian expats living in Qatar.
People do not have the flexibility of travelling to nearby airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Manama, for their travel to India. This has reduced their options for air connectivity and further increased the pressure on the available seat capacity in Qatar-India routes, the statement said.
“Salt in the wound – Jet Airways’ sudden, unexpected, unplanned, and immediate withdrawal of 28 weekly passenger flights during summer peak season between Doha and two Indian cities: New Delhi and Mumbai.
“All these have resulted not only in lesser available seat capacity but also significantly higher air ticket fares, which is set to continue for at least another three months,” the airline said. Qatar Airways flies to 13 Indian cities. It has 14 weekly flights to the national capital and 11 weekly flights to Kochi, among other cities.
A Silicon Valley-based IT company has filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying the most sought-after H-1B visa to a highly qualified Indian professional, terming the renunciation “arbitrary” and a “clear abuse of discretion”.
Xterra Solutions alleged in its lawsuit that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) improperly denied H-1B visa to Praharsh Chandra Sai Venkata Anisetty, 28, whom it had hired as a Business System Analyst.
The company’s H-1B petition on behalf of Mr Anisetty was denied on the sole ground that the job offered to him did not qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation, the lawsuit said. “The denial is not supported by substantial evidence in the record, is contrary to established legal precedent, and is arbitrary, capricious and constitutes a clear abuse of discretion,” the company alleged and urged the Northern District of California US District Court to set aside the USCIS order.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The most sought-after visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the US Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US masters degree or higher are exempt from the cap.
Mr Anisetty holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Electronics and Communication Engineering) as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Information Technology and Management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He currently holds valid H-4 dependent status through his wife, the principal beneficiary of an H-1B application.
The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.
The Indian embassy in Washington issued an advisory Wednesday urging students hoping to study in the United States to go beyond the usual checks to ensure they were not applying to “fake” universities that law enforcement agencies here have set up in the past to “trap” immigration frauds suspects.
“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” said the embassy advisory.
“The fact that a University is duly accredited by relevant US authorities such as its inclusion in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS), is not an assurance in itself about the bonafides of a University”.
The alert comes in the wake of, and the the advisory mentions them, US authorities apprehending hundred of Indian students enrolled at Farmington University in Michigan, a “fake” university set up by immigration enforcement agencies to ensnare recruiters and students in what was described as a “pay-to-stay” scheme. People enroll only to either stay in the US or extend their stay without any intention of studying, US enforcement agencies have alleged.
The other such institution was University of Northern New Jersey, which was used for the same purpose.
Indian students enrolled in these universities were apprehended and many were deported. They later claimed that they had taken these universities for real, paid their fees and had every intention to study.
“In order to ensure that Indian students do not fall into such “traps”, it is advised that due diligence be exercised while seeking admission in US Universities,” the embassy said.
The mission issued a checklist of steps students could take to ensure they were not duped.
Check if the university function from a campus or merely maintains a website and has administrative premises only? Does it have a faculty and regular instructors/educators? Does it have a a proper curriculum, hold regular classes and actively implement academic or educational activity?
Jet Airways, facing its worst existential crisis in its over 25-year-old history, Friday extended suspension of its international operations till next Monday due to severe liquidity issues.
Incidentally, the stake sale bid invited by the SBI-led consortium of bankers, which manages the day-to-day operations of the airline, also closes by the end of the day Friday, after being extended by two days.
Airline founder Naresh Goyal, the UAE carrier Etihad Airways, Air Canada and the country’s national investment fund among others are reported to have submitted bids, according to media reports.
On Thursday, the airline had announced temporary grounding of its international operations – Jet was the largest international airline from the country till the financial crisis – when it had also suspended operations to the entire Eastern and Northeastern markets as Jet was forced to ground 10 more aircraft following default of lease rentals.
This has left Jet with no large aircraft while it had just 14 planes for domestic operations as of late Thursday. “Jet has decided to extend suspension of its international operations till Monday, due to severe cash crunch,” airline sources told PTI Friday.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) called an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis that Jet Airways, which is facing acute financial woes, is undergoing, news agency PTI reported.
Saying that the airline was working to minimise guest inconvenience, a Jet Airways spokesperson said, “…The airline’s management and its key stakeholders including its consortium of lenders, continue to work closely towards resolving the current situation.”
Jet was the largest domestic carrier operating in the international sector with a hub in Amsterdam, where a cargo agent had taken possession of an aircraft this on Tuesday demanding bill payment. This led to the cancellation of the Amsterdam-Mumbai flight that day.
Thursday Jet flights to London, Amsterdam and Paris from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru scheduled were cancelled for operational reasons,” Je had said, adding it had also cancelled the Bengaluru-Amsterdam-Bengaluru flight Friday.
On the domestic front, all Jet operations to and from the Eastern and Northeastern states were suspended till further notice. Following this, there would no Jet flights to and from Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati and other airports in the region, travel industry source had told PTI.
Jet had also said its Mumbai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Guwahati and Dehradun-Guwahati-Kolkata flights stood cancelled till further notice due to “operational reasons.”As of Thursday, the airline had just 14 planes–way down from 123 planes in operations till a few months back.
Of the 14 aircraft that it operated till Thursday evening, eight were wide-body B777s (seven) and an A330– generally used for long-haul international operations.
The remaining six planes were, three B737s, which are largely used for flying on domestic routes besides on short- haul international destinations and the rest three are regional ATRs.
With just 14 aircraft left for operations, aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola had told PTI that the ministry was awaiting a report from the DGCA to decide whether Jet can continue to fly on international routes.
The government rules stipulate an airline must have at least 20 planes for operating international operations. The developments came as banks refused to release the promised additional loan of ₹1,500 crore and original promoter Naresh Goyal pledged 26% of his holding in Jet Airways with Punjab National Bank. This is to borrow money from the bank to continue operations of the airline.
It could not be immediately ascertained how much money was sanctioned against the share pledge. Jet Airways on Thursday informed stock exchanges about the pledge.
The airline cancelled three domestic flights for Friday. These include Mumbai-Kolkata, Kolkata-Guwahati and Dehradun-Kolkata via Guwahati. “Guests have been informed and refunds are being processed,” an airline spokesperson said.
The NYC “Defense of Democracy” rally brought together the rich diversity of the Indian Diaspora in the United States – scientists and engineers, service workers and computer professionals, artists and doctors, Hindus, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims, policymakers, activists, left and liberal intellectuals and community leaders.
Commenting on the lynchings and targeted attacks on Muslims and Dalits that have increased exponentially since the coming to power of Narendra Modi in 2014, Sarah Anderson-Rajarigam of Dalit Solidarity Forum, one of the co-sponsors of the rally said, “Dalit Solidarity Forum deplores the heavy targeting of Dalits and other marginalized communities. We unite our voices with Dalits and other minorities in their fight for freedom and support them in their efforts to uphold the constitution”. Out of all the mob-lynching incidents by so-called ‘cow-protection’ mobs since 2010, 97% have taken place between 2014 and 2018.
Coalition for the Defense of the Constitution and Democracy (CDCD) have in their press release have stated that the BJP government has responsible for systematic erosion and weakening of democratic values and institutions. It has been attacking and weakening constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission, Supreme Court, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The CBI and Income Tax department have also been used to intimidate media organizations critical of the BJP government.
Sunita Viswanath of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, said, “We are Americans of Hindu faith, many of us Indian, who stand opposed to the ideology of Hindutva and the atrocities against minorities and dissenters being committed in the name of Hinduism. We stand with all the people of India who are calling for an end to this regime that threatens democracy, disregards the dignity and safety of minorities, and has declared war on the poor.”
The BJP has significantly increased corruption and corporate plunder. To distract people from its record of failed governance, the BJP has increased war mongering and is busy dividing the people along communal lines. When Muslims, Dalits, and the Left have resisted or spoken up against the injustice, they have either been imprisoned using draconian laws such as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Adivasi (indigenous) people and landless laborers, who have been fighting for land and forest rights, have been arrested and harassed. Workers, who have been struggling against the government’s increased privatization and casualization of work, have been fired or put in prison. With the emboldening of patriarchal forces, in many instances, the attacks on women’s rights and safety have been led by BJP ministers and leaders.
Mohammad Jawad, National General Secretary of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), speaking on why IAMC has joined the rally said, “The people of India will eventually recognize the divisive and hatred the current BJP/RSS government is spreading and will unite to preserve our constitution and defeat this government.”
The protestors at the Defense of Democracy rally held placards and shouted slogans such as:
· Ensure Free and Fair Elections! Election Commission must guarantee election free of violence, intimidation, and rigging
· Stop the witch-hunt! Release all UAPA arrestees and drop all charges
· Stop the lynchings of Dalits and Muslims! Arrest and prosecute the perpetrators
· Stop culture of fear! End the attacks and intimidation of activists, artists, workers and women
The demonstration was held in front of the Indian consulate, New York.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced additional guidance regarding the adjudication of spousal petitions involving minors, following up on the agency’s February update to its policy.
The guidance, published as an update to the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM), instructs officers to conduct an additional interview for certain I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor. Generally, the bona fides of the spousal relationship are assessed in person by USCIS when the alien spouse applies to adjust status, or by the Department of State when the alien spouse applies for an immigrant visa. However, I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor party warrant special consideration due to the vulnerabilities associated with marriage involving a minor. As such, USCIS is modifying its policy to require in-person interviews at this earlier stage for certain I-130 petitions involving minor spouses.
“As part of our continued efforts to strengthen guidance for spousal petitions involving minors, we have instructed USCIS officers to conduct an additional in-person interview earlier in the immigration process for certain petitions that warrant additional scrutiny,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “While USCIS has taken action to the maximum extent possible to detect and closely examine spousal petitions involving a minor spouse, Congress should address this issue by providing more clarity under the law for USCIS officers.”
Interviewing earlier at the I-130 petition stage provides USCIS with an additional opportunity to verify information contained in the petition and assess the bona fides of the claimed spousal relationship. USCIS officers will now conduct interviews for the following I-130 spousal petitions as part of the adjudication of any I-130 spousal petition where:
The petitioner or the beneficiary is less than 16 years old; or
The petitioner or the beneficiary is 16 or 17 years old and there are 10 years or more difference between the ages of the spouses.
While there are no statutory age requirements to petition for a spouse or be sponsored as a spousal beneficiary, USCIS published guidance earlier this year detailing factors that officers should consider when evaluating I-130 spousal petitions involving a minor. USCIS considers whether the age of the beneficiary or petitioner at the time the marriage was celebrated violates the law of the place of celebration. Officers also consider whether the marriage is recognized as valid in the U.S. state where the couple currently resides or will presumably reside and does not violate the state’s public policy. In some U.S. states and in some foreign countries, marriage involving a minor might be permitted under certain circumstances, including where there is parental consent, a judicial order, emancipation of the minor, or pregnancy of the minor.
In addition, per regulation, USCIS may use its discretion to issue a request for evidence (RFE) where appropriate. As with any benefit, the burden is generally on the petitioner to demonstrate the validity of their petition and the bona fides of their spousal relationship.
These AFM updates are part of USCIS’ continuing efforts to ensure that our policies and processes remain current and are compliant with existing immigration law. USCIS also created a flagging system that sends an alert in an electronic system at the time of filing if a minor spouse or fiancé is detected. After the initial flag, the petition is sent to a special unit that verifies that the age and relationship listed are correct before the petition is accepted. If the age or classification on the petition is incorrect, the petition will be returned to the petitioner for correction.
For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and Linkedin (/uscis).
The New York State Senate unanimously voted to pass Senate Bill 4037, which prohibits New York employers from discriminating against employees due to their religious attire, including grooming observations, last week.
Senate Bill 4037 makes it very clear that employers have an obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for religious attire and grooming practices, such as the Sikh turban and unshorn hair. This critical piece of legislation was inspired by the Sikh Coalition’s advocacy efforts in 2011 and successful multi-year settlement against the New York City Metro Transit Authority (MTA) for discriminating against Sikh employees who were previously denied the right to wear religious head coverings in full public view.
“New York has sent a clear message to their employers that respecting and protecting our religious rights in the workplace matters,” said Sikh Coalition Policy and Advocacy Manager, Nikki Singh. “We thank New York legislators for working with organizations like the Sikh Coalition to make sure this new law passed.”
In early April, the Sikh Coalition launched an online petition campaignacross New York to mobilize Sikh community members to write their elected officials in support of the bill. On April 8th, the Sikh Coalition also mobilized 14 New York gurdwaras (Sikh houses of worship) and 22 civil rights organizations to sign onto letters supporting the legislation. On April 9th, the Sikh Coalition joined a rally in Albany, New York in support of the legislation.
“No Sikh should ever have to make the unthinkable choice between their faith and career,” said Ms. Singh. “This legislation will have an immediate impact for Sikhs who have been turned away from employment in New York, and it further paves the way for every Sikh across the state to know that their faith should never impede the career they want to pursue.”
For over 17 years, the Sikh Coalition has been fighting to end employment discrimination in the United States. This work has included successfully litigating high-impact employment discrimination cases against local and federal government agencies, major Sikh-populated industries, Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Army. If you or someone you know has experienced discrimination in the workplace, please contact the Sikh Coalition’s legal team for a free and confidential consultation. The Sikh Coalition continues to handle an average of over 200 free legal aid cases per year, including many employment discrimination cases.
Additionally, the Sikh Coalition has led grassroots efforts to pass landmark employment discrimination laws in California in 2012. In 2011, the Sikh Coalition also initiated and secured the passage of New York City’s “Workplace Religious Freedom Act,” which significantly enhanced religion-based protections for employees working in New York City.
“We thank every New York Sikh community member that has taken action in support of this legislation, including 14 New York gurdwaras,” said Ms. Singh. “When we mobilize, the Sikh voice has the power to create change that positively impacts the lives of millions.”
The Sikh Coalition also thanks New York State Senator John Liu (D-11th District), the eleven co-sponsors of Senate Bill 4037, along with the tireless efforts of New York State Representative, David Weprin (D-24th District) for bringing this legislation to fruition.
The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education.
The H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreigners, which has been subjected to prohibitive scrutiny by the Trump administration, has earned the US $4.9 billion in employer-paid fees since 1999, which paid for more than 90,000 college scholarships and training, according to a new study.
These collections are from the $1,500 processing fee that the government charges employers for every new H-1B or a renewal, the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank, says in the report, and adds that the total rises to $7 billion, by adding $500 in anti-fraud fees.
The US grants 65,000 cap-subjected H-1B work visas to foreign workers hired abroad every year and 20,000 to foreigners in US institutions of higher education. More than 70% of these visas have gone to Indians, hired by US companies such as Google and Facebook, and Indian firms such as TCS and Infosys.
The application process for 2020, which comes with changes, started on Monday and will typically end in a few days given the demand. More than 190,000 applications were received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the programme, in 2018 (for 2019), and 199,000 in 2017.
“Few people realize that fees for each new H-1B visa holder fund scholarships and job training for Americans,” said Stuart Anderson, a former immigration services official and executive director of the think tank that released its report on Monday.
The report argued that the role of employer-paid H-1B fees has received scant or no attention in the policy debate around immigration so far. “People on all sides of the immigration debate agree that it is beneficial to train and educate more Americans in STEM fields, yet policymakers rarely note that every company-sponsored H-1B petition provides money for training and STEM education,” it said.
This side of the H-1B visas has indeed received no attention. The focus has been on American workers displaced by outsourcing. And the Trump administration has initiated a series of measures to check abuse and fraud of the programme in line with its “Buy American, Hire American” policies.
Since 1999, H-1B fees paid by employers have been used to educate and train Americans in technology-related fields. And based on data obtained from the National Science Foundation, the US department of labour and the USCIS, the report said approximately 87,890 college students enrolled in mathematics, engineering and computer science courses were granted scholarships ranging from one to four years and of up $10,000 a year.
Money from the collections also funded training of more than 1.5 million school students and teachers in STEM-related fields, and an estimated $2.5 billion of the total collections was used by the department of labor to train US workers.
“The H-1B fees have benefited American students and encouraged through teaching and financial support many individuals to enter science and engineering fields,” said the report.
This week, the Sikh Coalition filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to ongoing concerns regarding violations of civil rights for Sikhs at ICE detention facilities across the United States.
The complaint demands included increased Punjabi language access for Sikh detainees in compliance with ICE’s own Language Access Plan, an investigation into systematic policies of prolonged detention, better access to critical medical care, and full and consistent religious accommodations for Sikhs at detention facilities under federal law.
“Access to due process, religious accommodations, medical care, and language assistance is not an immigration issue; it’s a basic human rights issue,” said Sikh Coalition Senior Staff Attorney Cindy Nesbit. “Our government has a responsibility to make sure that every person being detained is treated fairly under the law, and we have an organizational responsibility to hold our government accountable.”
The Sikh Coalition also joined South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), several other civil rights organizations and members of Congress to brief legislators about these concerns while demanding further transparency and oversight into the treatment of Sikh detainees. Click here to watch the April 2nd briefing.
On February 15th, the Sikh Coalition joined other civil rights organizations, immigration attorneys and activists for a day of action in El Paso, Texas. This involved Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur and Community Development Manager Inderpreet Kaur meeting with 42 Sikh detainees – including those who had been force-fed after hunger striking in protest of these violations – inside the El Paso and Otero detention facilities. To read more about our organizational response to the Sikh hunger strike, click here.
The Sikh Coalition has previously provided support to detainees whose civil rights are being violated because they are not permitted to freely practice their religious beliefs while detained. Last year, this support included providing background expertise on Sikh religious observance as part of a court filing for the Oregon Federal Defender’s Office, which represented a number of Sikh detainees at the Sheridan Detention Center. This court filing, in part, led to the detention facility changing their policy and allowing Sikhs to maintain their dastaars.
Additionally, the Sikh Coalition continues working with organizations and sangats to gather actionable data on Sikhs who are detained so that we can better identify needs and resources. This support includes providing dastaars, gutkas, parsad and a clean prayer space at detention facilities, and also connecting detainees to Punjabi translators and lawyers while providing oversight on humanitarian conditions within the detention facilities.
The Sikh Coalition recognizes that immigration is a long-standing and complex issue. Even though we do not provide direct legal services on asylum or immigration cases and it has not been a primary focus area, we are here to make sure impacted community members’ civil rights are protected.
Simone Burns gets six-month sentence for ‘insulting and upsetting act’ during Air India flight
Simone Burns, 50, outside Isleworth crown court in London ahead of her sentencing on Thursday, last week. A lawyer who spat at a flight attendant during a racist foul-mouthed tirade after she was refused alcohol on a nine-hour business class flight has been jailed for six months.
Judge Nicholas Wood, sentencing at Isleworth crown court, told Simone Burns: “The experience of a drunk and irrational person in the confines of an aircraft is frightening, not least on a long-haul flight and poses a potential risk to safety.”
The judge noted that “such offences are often committed by people of impeccable character”.
Although the aircraft was not at risk by Burns’s behaviour, the judge said “for the luckless and unfortunate passengers and crew there is no escape at 30,000ft”.
He added that “spitting straight into a crew member’s face at close range is a particularly insulting and upsetting act”.
Burns, of Hove, sat quietly in the dock as she was sentenced to six months for being drunk on an aircraft and two months for assault.
The sentences are to be served concurrently after she previously pleaded guilty to the charges.
Burns, 50, who is known as Simone O’Broin, was initially served three bottles of red wine but declared “I’m a fucking international lawyer” when she was denied more on an Air India flight from Mumbai to London on 11 November 2018.
She also called staff “Indian money-grabbing cunts” and smoked a cigarette in the toilets during the tirade, which was condemned by a member of the cabin staff as unlike anything he had seen during his 30-year aviation career.
The lawyer, who is Irish and has worked with refugees around the world, unleashed a barrage of abuse in a prolonged rant which also saw her spit and grab the arm of the steward, the court heard.
Burns was also ordered to pay £300 compensation to the crew member who was assaulted.
The nine-hour flight took off at 4.10am as Burns sat in business class with 17 other passengers. After breakfast was served Burns was asking for alcohol and being “very obnoxious”, the court heard.
She was served with three 25cl bottles of red wine an hour into the flight. She had also complained that her TV was not positioned correctly. She had gone to the galley and demanded drinks when she stood back and spat into the crew member’s face.
Burns also grabbed the report the crew member was writing and continued with her abusive behaviour, the court heard.
The court was told that this crew member later said: “In the 34 years I have worked for Air India this is the first time I have been treated like this by a woman. I felt abused.”
The judge said he was satisfied the offence was racially aggravated and that the Air India passengers must have been “extremely upset” by Burns’s behaviour and the language she used.
The judge told Burns: “The fact remains that you were drunk and obnoxious almost from the beginning to the end. You were abusive, contemptuous and confrontational and used appalling language.”
He added: “You are a woman, not just of good character but a positive and impeccable character – a righter of wrongs. What this has done, thanks to social media, [has meant] you have had death threats and been a hermit in your home. “You are a person who has done good work throughout your life.”
The prosecutor, Caroline Paul, told the court that one of the crew members who dealt with Burns later described her as being “continually abusive in the nine-hour flight and in his 30 years as a flight purser he had never witnessed such behavior”.
Burns was given a verbal warning and was then arrested after the flight touched down.
As the April 15 tax deadline approaches, overall public views of the fairness of the nation’s tax system have changed only modestly since 2017, before passage of major tax legislation. However, partisan differences on tax fairness have increased considerably since then, and now are wider than at any point in at least two decades.
Two years ago, Republicans and Democrats had similar views of the fairness of the tax system. Today, 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the present tax system is very or moderately fair; just half as many Democrats and Democratic leaners (32%) view the tax system as fair. The share of Republicans who say the tax system is fair has increased 21 percentage points since 2017. Over this period, the share of Democrats viewing the tax system as fair has declined nine points.
The survey by Pew Research Center, conducted March 20-25 among 1,503 adults, finds that more than a year after the new tax law was enacted, public approval remains relatively unchanged (36% approve of the tax law, while 49% disapprove). However, fewer Republicans strongly approve of the law than did so in January 2018.
About seven-in-ten Republicans (71%) approve of the tax law, including 43% who strongly approve. Early last year, about the same share of Republicans approved of the tax law (75%), but a majority (57%) strongly approved.
Most Democrats continue to express negative views of the tax law. Today, 79% of Democrats disapprove, including 59% who strongly disapprove.
Americans are about as likely to say they understand how the tax law affects them as was the case in January 2018. A majority of Americans say they understand how the tax law has affected them and their family “very well” (26%) or “somewhat well” (37%). However, a third say they understand the law’s impact not too well or not at all well.
The public’s overall frustrations with the federal tax system have changed little since April 2017, the survey finds.
Overall, about six-in-ten Americans say they are bothered “a lot” by the feeling that some corporations (62%) and wealthy people (60%) do not pay their fair share in taxes.
Fewer American express strong concerns about the complexity of the tax system (39% say they are bothered a lot by this), the amount they pay in taxes (27%) and whether poor people pay their fair share in taxes (16%).
The public’s views of the fairness of the U.S. economic system have changed little in recent years – and remain deeply divided along partisan lines. Currently, 63% of Americans say the “economic system unfairly favors powerful interests,” while just 34% say it is “generally fair to most Americans.” About twice as many Democrats (81%) as Republicans (40%) say the country’s economic system is unfair.
Similarly, opinions on whether corporate profits are excessive have been stable. A 56% majority says business corporations make too much profit, compared with 39% who say their profits are “fair and reasonable.” While 72% of Democrats say corporations make too much profit, only 38% of Republicans say the same.
Partisans close divisions on some concerns over the tax system as other divisions widen
While increasing shares of Democrats say they are bothered “a lot” by the feeling that some corporations and wealthy people do not pay their fair share in taxes (79% of Democrats say this about each), Republicans’ concerns over these issues have lessened.
Today, 42% of Republicans say they are bothered a lot by the feeling that some corporations do not pay their fair share of taxes (down from 55% in 2015). And just 37% of Republicans are bothered a great deal by the feeling that some wealthy people do not pay their fair share (49% said this in 2015).
Republicans’ concerns over the complexity of the tax system and how much they pay in taxes also have declined. About four-in-ten Republicans (39%) say they are bothered a lot by the complexity of the tax system, down 15 percentage points since 2015 and 10 points since 2017. Democrats’ views have changed little since 2015; today, 40% say they are bothered a lot by the complexity of the tax system.
There has been a modest decrease in the share of Republicans who say they are bothered a lot by the amount they pay in taxes (27% now, 35% two years ago). Over the past two years, there has been a comparable rise in the share of Democrats saying they are bothered a lot by how much they pay in taxes (28% now, 21% in 2017).
Stark differences in views of tax fairness between higher-income Republicans and Democrats
Today, about two-thirds of Republicans and Republican leaners (64%) say the present federal tax system is very or moderately fair; only about a third of Democrats and Democratic leaners (32%) say the same. In October 2017, there was not a significant gap in Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of the fairness of the tax system.
While Republicans and Democrats across income categories differ in their views of tax fairness, the gaps are widest – and the shift most pronounced – among those with family incomes of $75,000 or more. Currently, 68% of Republicans with incomes of at least $75,000 say the tax system is very or moderately fair, up from just 37% in 2017. By contrast, the share of Democrats who view the tax system as fair has declined 19 percentage points since then (from 40% to 21%).
Majorities of publics in top migrant destination countries say immigrants strengthen their countries, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey of 18 countries that host half of the world’s migrants.
In 10 of the countries surveyed, majorities view immigrants as a strength rather than a burden. Among them are some of the largest migrant receiving countries in the world: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia (each hosting more than 7 million immigrants in 2017).
By contrast, majorities in five countries surveyed – Hungary, Greece, South Africa, Russia and Israel – see immigrants as a burden to their countries. With the exception of Russia, these countries each have fewer than 5 million immigrants.
Meanwhile, public opinion on the impact of immigrants is divided in the Netherlands. In Italy and Poland, more say immigrants are a burden, while substantial shares in these countries do not lean one way or the other (31% and 20% respectively).
Countries surveyed hold half of the world’s migrants
The 18 nations surveyed contain more than half (51%) of the world’s migrant population, or some 127 million people, according to United Nations and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
Countries with some of the world’s largest immigrant populations were surveyed, including more traditional destinations like the United States, Canada and Australia that have seen waves of immigrants arrive since at least the 19th century. Also surveyed were more recent destination countries in the European Union such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Greece, all of which experienced immigration waves after World War II.
Japan and Israel were also surveyed. Japan is making efforts to attract more migrants due to its aging population. Israel has been a destination for immigrants since it enacted its 1950 Law of Return for Jewish people worldwide. Russia was surveyed since it has one of the world’s largest foreign-born populations. At the same time, South Africa continues to be a top destination country for many Africans.
Also included in the survey were some newer destinations. Mexico, for example, has become an increasingly important destination and transit country for migrants fleeing violence from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Similarly, Hungary became an important transit country for migrants entering Europe during the refugee surgethat peaked in 2015. And although Poland for many years was a country of emigration, it has seen a recent wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are top immigrant destinations that were not surveyed. Pew Research Center does not have a history of conducting surveys in these countries.
In the U.S., the nation with the world’s largest number of immigrants, six-in-ten adults (59%) say immigrants make the country stronger because of their work and talents, while one-third (34%) say immigrants are a burden because they take jobs and social benefits. Views about immigrants have shifted in the U.S. since the 1990s, when most Americans said immigrants were a burden to the country.
Meanwhile, in six European Union countries surveyed, public opinion about the impact of immigrants has changed since 2014. That was the last time the Center asked European publics this question. It was also before hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers arrived on Europe’s shores in 2015. In Greece, Germany and Italy, three countries that experienced high volumes of arrivals, the share of adults saying immigrants make their countries stronger dropped significantly.
By contrast, public opinion shifted in the opposite direction in France, the UK and Spain, countries surveyed that received fewer asylum seekers in 2015. In all three countries in 2018, majorities said immigrants made their countries stronger, up from about half who said the same in 2014.1
While majorities in many of the 18 countries surveyed see immigrants as a strength, this opinion is not equally shared across all groups within countries. In most countries surveyed, those on the left of the ideological spectrum are more positive about immigration’s impact on their country than those on the right. Similarly, in many countries surveyed, those with higher levels of education, younger adults, and those with higher incomes are more likely to say immigrants make their countries stronger because of their work and talents..)
Also, in all countries surveyed, those saying they want fewer immigrants arriving in their countries are less likely to view immigrants as making their countries stronger.
Publics split on immigrants’ willingness to adopt their societies’ customs and way of life
Attitudes are mixed on immigrants’ willingness to adopt the destination country’s customs or wanting to be distinct from its society. A median of 49% among countries surveyed say immigrants want to be distinct from the host country’s society, while a median of 45% say immigrants want to adopt the host country’s customs and way of life.
In six destination countries – Japan, Mexico, South Africa, the U.S., France and Sweden – publics are more likely to say immigrants want to adopt the host country’s customs and way of life than say immigrants want to be distinct.
Japan is an outlier: A large majority of the public (75%) says immigrants want to adopt the country’s customs and way of life. This country, whose aging population and low birth rate make immigration relevant for its population growth, has recently changed its policies to attract more foreigners. Views about immigrant integration in Japan could be linked to the low number of immigrantsthe country hosts and that many immigrants in Japan are ethnically Japanese.
By contrast, in eight destination countries – Hungary, Russia, Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Israel and Australia – more people say immigrants want to be distinct than say they are willing to adopt the host country’s customs. Majorities hold this view in Hungary, Russia, Greece, Italy and Germany. In addition, sizable shares of people in most of these countries refused to choose one option or the other when asked this question.
In many countries surveyed, younger adults, those with higher levels of education and those on the left of the political spectrum are generally more likely to say immigrants are adopting the country’s customs and way of life.
Publics are less concerned about immigrant crime than the risk they pose for terrorism
In recent years, security concerns about immigration have become part of the public debate in many countries. Some of these concerns are about crime and immigration, while others are about terrorism and immigration.
Immigrants and crime
In several immigrant destination countries, large majorities say immigrants are notmore to blame for crime than other groups. This is the case in Canada, the U.S., France and the UK. Among other countries surveyed, only in South Africa, Sweden and Greece do majorities believe that immigrants are more to blame for crime than other groups.
In the Netherlands, Japan, Israel and Germany, opinions are split on the impact of immigrants on crime. In four other countries where views were mixed, substantial shares refused to choose either of the two statements offered – Italy (26%), Hungary (17%), Poland (15%) and Russia (14%).
In countries where majorities see immigrants as a strength, majorities also tend to say immigrants are not more to blame for crime. Notable exceptions are Germany and Sweden, where majorities say that immigrants strengthen their countries, but pluralities of adults say that immigrants carry more responsibility for crime.
Immigrants and terrorism
Publics across top migrant destination countries are split on whether or not immigrants increase the risk of terrorism in their countries.
In seven countries, majorities believe immigrants do not increase the risk of terrorism in the host country. These include all surveyed countries in North America (Mexico, Canada and the U.S.), as well as South Africa and Japan. Publics in France and Spain, two European countries that were not at the center of the 2015 refugee crisis, also hold this view.
By contrast, majorities in seven European nations – Hungary, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands – believe immigrants increase the risk of terrorism in their countries.
Views on the topic are divided in the UK, Australia and Israel. In Poland, half (52%) of the public says immigrants increase the risk of terrorism, while 28% say they do notincrease the risk of terrorism. But a substantial share in Poland (19%) also refused to respond one way or the other.
Majorities in many countries think immigrants in the country illegally should be deported
Majorities in most immigrant destination countries surveyed support the deportation of people who are in their countries illegally.
In seven of the 10 EU countries surveyed, majorities support the deportation of immigrants living in their country illegally. In 2007, between 1.7 million and 3.2 million unauthorized, or irregular, migrants were estimated to be living in the 10 EU countries surveyed. The number of asylum seeker applications has increased following the 2015 refugee surge. Since then, the number of rejected asylum applications has increased substantially. Many of these rejected asylum seekers may continue to reside illegally in Europe.
Similarly, majorities in Russia, South Africa, Australia and Japan also support deporting immigrants living in those countries illegally.
In the U.S., public opinion is divided on the issue. About half (46%) of the public supports deporting immigrants residing there illegally, while the other half (47%) opposes their deportation.2 The Center estimates 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2016, which represented less than a quarter (23.7%) of the U.S. immigrant population. The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. has been falling since 2007 and is now at levels last seen in 2004.
In Mexico, fewer than half (43%) say they support the deportation of immigrants living there illegally. In recent years, Mexico has experienced an increasing number of migrants entering the country without authorization from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Mexico has historically been a migrant-sending country: About 12 million people born in Mexico live outside the country, nearly all in the U.S. Among those in the U.S., nearly half are unauthorized immigrants.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the start of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap season, start dates for premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions, and the launch of its new H-1B data hub, while reminding petitioners of its new H-1B cap selection process.
These new efforts underscore the agency’s commitment to supporting President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American executive order designed to protect U.S. workers.
“USCIS continually strives to improve the administration of the H-1B program and make it work better for employers, our agency, and U.S. workers,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “We are also committed to fulfilling the president’s Buy American and Hire American executive order, one of the principal goals of which is to protect the interests of U.S. workers in the administration of our immigration system, in part by promoting the proper functioning of the H-1B visa program. Our new H-1B data hub will make information more accessible to the public, and the new selection process will help make the system more meritorious and better protect the wages of U.S. workers. Additionally, our two-phased approach to premium processing will make the process more effective and efficient for employers and USCIS.”
Start of FY 2020 Cap Season
USCIS will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2020 cap on April 1, 2019, and will reject any FY 2020 cap-subject H‑1B petitions filed before April 1. H-1B petitioners must follow all statutory and regulatory requirements as they prepare petitions to avoid delays in processing and possible requests for evidence. Form M-735, Optional Checklist for Form I-129 H-1B Filings, provides detailed information on how to complete and submit an FY 2020 H-1B petition.
Premium Processing for FY 2020 Cap-Subject Petitions
Premium processing will be offered in a two-phased approach during the FY 2020 cap season so USCIS can best manage the premium processing requests without fully suspending it as in previous years. The first phase will include FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status and the second phase will include all other FY 2020 cap-subject petitions.
Starting April 1, FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitioners requesting a change of status on their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, may request premium processing by concurrently filing Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. However, to prioritize data entry for cap-subject H-1B petitions, USCIS will not begin premium processing for these petitions immediately. USCIS will begin premium processing for these petitions no later than May 20, 2019, and will notify the public before premium processing begins for these petitions.
If a petitioner does not file Form I-907 concurrently with an FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject petition requesting a change of status, the petitioner must wait until premium processing begins to submit Form I-907. Until premium processing begins for these petitions, USCIS will reject any Form I-907 that is not filed concurrently with a cap-subject Form I-129. Petitioners must appropriately select response “b” for Item 4 in Part 2 of Form I-129 to be eligible to concurrently file Form I-907.
Premium processing for all other FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions will not begin until at least June 2019. Cap-subject petitioners not requesting a change of status may not submit their premium processing request concurrently with their H-1B petition. These petitioners will be eligible to upgrade to premium processing by filing Form I-907 once premium processing begins for this group. USCIS will notify the public with a confirmed date for premium processing for cap-subject petitioners not requesting a change of status.
At this time, premium processing for H-1B petitions that are exempt from the cap, such as extension of stay requests, remains available.
New H-1B Data Hub
USCIS is also announcing the new H-1B Employer Data Hub that will be available on uscis.gov on April 1. The data hub is part of USCIS’ continued effort to increase the transparency of the H-1B program by allowing the public to search for H-1B petitioners by fiscal year, NAICS industry code, company name, city, state, or zip code. This will give the public the ability to calculate approval and denial rates and to review which employers are using the H-1B program.
New H-1B Cap Selection Process
In January, the Department of Homeland Security announced a final rule amending regulations governing cap-subject H-1B petitions, including those that may be eligible for the advanced degree exemption. The final rule reverses the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption, which will be in effect for the FY 2020 cap season. This simple change increases the chances that more of these visas will be granted to those with an advanced degree from a U.S. institution of higher education.
The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent. Congress has set a cap of 65,000 H-1B visas per fiscal year. An advanced degree exemption from the H-1B cap is available for 20,000 beneficiaries who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education. The agency will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public when the H-1B numerical allocations have been met.
Canada just recorded its biggest influx of immigrants in more than a century. The country added 71,131 immigrants in the final three months of 2018, for a full year increase of 321,065, according to the latest estimates released Thursday by Statistics Canada in Ottawa. The annual increase is the largest since 1913 — when 401,000 immigrants flocked to the country — and the fourth largest in historical data going back to 1852.
The inflows helped the nation’s population growth top half a million people for the first time since the late 1950s, the statistics agency said, and are part of a boom in international migration that includes a surge in non-permanent residents like foreign students. It’s been a welcome tailwind for an economy coping with aging demographics and other drags like record household debt.
The increase in international migration, for example, has helped fuel a surge in employment — even amid sluggish indicators in other parts of the economy — since immigrants tend to be of working age. Including other forms of migration such as non-permanent residents, the country recorded a 425,245 increase in international migration last year — the largest in data going back to 1972.
The immigration numbers include regular refugee inflows, but not those crossing the border illegally. Those are counted as non-permanent residents. The Statistics Canada data don’t provide a breakdown of refugee numbers.
The influx helped Canada’s population grow by 528,421 last year, which is the biggest increase since the late 1950s, Statistics Canada said. In percentage terms, Canada’s population increased 1.4 percent last year, the fastest since 1990 and the strongest among Group of Seven countries.
The strong immigration numbers also make up for slower natural population growth. Canada’s natural population increase, or the number of births less deaths, fell to 103,176 in 2018, the lowest level since at least the late 1940s.
The new policies and procedures by Trump administration has led to denials of Visa to the United States in the past year. A new analysis by a policy research group that scrupulously tracks immigration related issues and trade has said that there has been a large increase in the visa refusals by the U.S. State Department in fiscal year 2018, thanks to the “extreme vetting” and “public charge” changes imposed by the Trump administration, having a major impact.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), based in Arlington, Va., using new data released by the State Department, said that it found “implementing ‘extreme vetting’ for visas and new ‘public charge’ eligibility requirements is increasing the number of immigrants and applicants for temporary visas denied entry to the United States.”
The NFAP noted that between FY 2016 and FY 2018 the number of temporary visas issued declined 1,353,465 or 13 percent. NFAP pointed out that the number of immigrants issued visas declined from 559,536 in FY 2017 to 533,557 in FY 2018, a decline of 5 percent, and between FY 2016 and FY 2018 the number immigrants issued visas declined 14 percent.
In comparing data for Fiscal Year 2017 to Fiscal Year 2018, the NFAP found ineligibility findings used by the State Department to refuse visa applicants increased 39 percent for immigrants and 5 percent for nonimmigrants–individuals seeking temporary visas– between FY 2017 and FY 2018.
“The trend continued in FY 2018, with F visas for Indians declining 4 percent or 2,058 visas, from FY 2017 to FY 2018,” it said. The approval rate of H-1B visas has dropped from 96 percent in 2015 to 85 percent in 2018 in new data released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and now there’s now a clearer picture as to why.
It said the number of temporary visas issued declined 7 percent from FY 2017 to FY 2018, while the number of immigrant (permanent resident) visas issued declined 5 percent, and predicted that “immigrant and temporary visas could continue to decline in FY 2019 and FY 2020 due to restrictive policies from the Trump administration.”
“The State Department data show a similar trend for immigrants seeking permanent residence, primarily family-based immigrants, since employment-based immigrants typically gain permanent residence (a green card) while adjusting from a temporary status (such as H-1B) inside the United States,” the policy group said.
That presidential memorandum stated, “I direct the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security . . . to rigorously enforce all existing grounds of inadmissibility and to ensure subsequent compliance with related laws after admission.”
The NFAP report also said that “the decline in international students from India has been significant,” pointing out that “the number of F student visas issued to India fell by 20,013 or 31 percent between FY 2016 and FY 2018.”
Immigrants with specialized skills say they are being denied visas or encountering lengthy delays because the U.S. government is increasingly asking for evidence that the job they’re seeking is visa-worthy, according to an Associated Press report on the data. The Trump administration has said it wants to crack down on work visas issued under the controversial program.
Government requests for evidence, which delay the visa process, have increased overall to 60 percent since 2015. Just three years ago, they were at 35 percent — a number considered high at the time.
Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst for Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute, said the data shows how effective the Trump administration’s efforts are in limiting applications from foreign consulting companies. Her institute supports immigration programs.
Approved petitions of H-1B visas for foreign consulting companies saw a “pretty significant” decrease between 2017 and 2018, according to Pierce. “It does look like the administration is hitting them, and that is their intention,” she said.
For the Community and Diaspora to reach out to the Consulate with their queries related to consular as well as all other matters, the Consulate General of India, New York has introduced on it’s website’s dashboard (https://www.indiainnewyork.gov.in/Pramit), “PRAMIT – Pravasi Mitra (Helpline)”. It does not require calling, messaging or emailing, just “PRAMIT” us for quick and assured response.
Please find an attachment to be circulated among the community and encourage all community members to use the same.
Regards,
Community Affairs Team
Consulate General of India, New York
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board voted on February 27, 2019 to increase fares and tolls. The new tolls take effect March 31, 2019 and the new fares take effect April 21, 2019.
MTA board members voted on Wednesday to once again increase subway fares, raising the weekly MetroCard price to $33 and bringing a monthly pass to $127, up from $121. The hike, which does not impact the $2.75 base fare, will go into effect on April 21st. Tolls on most MTA bridges and tunnels will also see an increase of about 36 cents.
“This is painful for a lot of people, but it wasn’t exactly a mugging,” Acting MTA Chairman Freddy Ferrer told reporters.
The decision comes after a planned vote on the fare hike was delayed last month, with some board members citing the need to tie any cost increase to improved subway performance. The price hike voted on today, which ends the pay-per-ride discount, does not include a performance metric for subway service. The MTA’s decision to push back the vote cost the authority an estimated $30 million, according to transit officials.
Included in the decision are increases to the following unlimited, weekly and monthly passes:
Unlimited Ride MetroCard: Increase the price of unlimited ride cards: 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard increases from $32 to $33
7-Day Express Bus Plus Unlimited Ride MetroCard: Increase from $59.50 to $62.00
30-Day and Calendar Monthly Unlimited Ride MetroCard: Increase from $121 to $127
Additional fares were increased. You can read more about the full changes in our blog post linked below.
As Social Security’s funding problems loom ever closer on the horizon, the program has emerged as a pet project on many lawmakers’ fix-it list. Now in control of the House, Democrats have thrown their weight behind a measure that would extend and expand the program — largely by asking high earners to pony up, along with a gradual increase in the Social Security tax rate that applies to workers’ income.
“Democrats have agreed that we should expand, not cut, Social Security and have the wealthy pay their share,” said Nancy Altman, president of advocacy group Social Security Works.
Due to a variety of factors — including an aging demographic, longer life spans, lower birth rates and the widening income gap — the Social Security Trustees 2018 report projects that beneficiaries will see a 21 percent cut in benefits by 2034 unless Congress takes action to prevent the funding shortfall. The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate is more dire, pegging the year at 2031.
More than 200 lawmakers, all Democrats, have signed onto the Social Security 2100 Act in the House. Introduced by Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut, the bill would require that earnings above $400,000 be subject to the payroll tax that funds the program.
Currently, earnings above a certain level — $132,900 for 2019 — are not subject to Social Security taxation. This means someone who makes $132,900 pays the same amount into the program as someone earning, say, $1 million.
A CBO report released in December shows that because earnings for the highest-paid workers have grown faster than the average wage, about 83 percent of earnings fell below the Social Security’s taxable wage cap in 2016, down from 90 percent in 1983.
“When Congress enacted Social Security changes in 1983, no one anticipated the income stagnation,” Altman said.
The bill also would gradually increase the payroll contribution by workers and employers to 7.4 percent each by 2043 from 6.2 percent (to 14.8 percent altogether from the current 12.4 percent).
Social Security recipients also would benefit, getting an increase of about 2 percent of average benefits. And, the yearly cost-of-living adjustment — called COLA — would use a different formula to determine annual bumps intended to more accurately reflects rising costs for older Americans.
Additionally, the bill also would create a new minimum benefit set at 125 percent of the poverty line and take other steps to ease financial pressure on retirees, including doubling the amount of Social Security income that isn’t subject to taxation.
The end result would be extended solvency for the program for 75 years, according to Social Security’s Office of the Chief Actuary.
A recent poll conducted by The Senior Citizens League of its members explored what they thought the new Congress should focus on. Boosting Social Security benefits was cited by 42 percent, followed by reducing taxation of those benefits at 31 percent (reducing prescription drug prices came in third, at 18 percent).
“I think there’s a growing sense that something needs to be done,” said Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for the league. “It can take time to get legislation with many moving parts up and running, so you need to allow time to phase in changes.”
However, congressional Republicans typically have balked at the idea of expanding the program due to the associated higher taxes that would come with it, and past GOP proposals have advocated reducing benefits as a way to ease the program’s financial woes.
And, not everyone supports a program expansion. “Expanding benefits could help low-income retirees, but middle and high-income workers would likely reduce their personal savings in response to higher expected Social Security benefits,” said Andrew Biggs a resident scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, according to written testimony presented at recent congressional hearing about retirement security. Biggs was a deputy commissioner of Social Security under President George W. Bush.
Biggs also said that while tax increases would eliminate shortfalls, higher taxes could increase borrowing and debt by low-income workers and reduce work and encourage tax evasion by higher earners, according to his written testimony.
While it’s not certain whether Larson’s bill would be able to clear the House in its present form anyway, a Democrat-controlled House bodes well that it could progress.
However, as with most major pieces of legislation, it could go through various iterations before facing approval or rejection by the full House. And even if it made it through, the measure would also need approval from the Republican-dominated Senate, where priorities could be much different. “If it gets through the House, and then goes to the Senate and doesn’t get brought up for debate or a vote, it’s going to be a 2020 election campaign issue,” Altman said.
The measure, which would expand benefits for current and future recipients, would extend the program’s solvency for 75 years, according to Social Security’s Office of the Chief Actuary.
To help fund the proposed changes, earnings above $400,000 would be subject to Social Security taxes. In 2019, earnings above $132,900 are not subject to the levy.
The payroll tax also would gradually rise to 14.8 percent from the current 12.4 percent by 2043, with workers and their employers splitting that tax as they already do.
The spouses of certain U.S. visa holders granted permission to work under an Obama-era rule are now one step closer to seeing that authorization removed. The proposed regulation was officially delivered to the Office of Management and Budget for review last Wednesday, according to a government database, which means the Department of Homeland Security has finished its work on the policy. Changes to the visa program were first discussed in 2017, according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson.
The rule change would strip employment authorization from the spouses of H-1B visa recipients who are on track for green cards to work in the United States. The H-1B program attracts foreign specialized workers — many of them from India and China — to come to the U.S. for employment.
“The news really is this rule is finally moving forward as a proposal in a formal way,” said William Stock, an immigration lawyer from Philadelphia and past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
USCIS spokesperson Jessica Collins said in a statement to NBC News that the agency continues to review all employment-based visa programs, including employment authorization documents for H-4 visas.
“No decision about the regulation concerning the employment eligibility of certain H-4 spouses is final until the rule-making process is complete,” she said.
Stock said that once the Office of Management and Budget completes its review, the regulation could be sent back to the Department of Homeland Security, or it could be cleared for publication in the Federal Register as a proposed rule.
After that, there’s typically a 30-to-90 day public comment, with 60 days being normal, he said. The comments are reviewed and a final rule is made.
According to the USCIS, there have been close to 91,000 initial approved applications for H-4 work authorization since the original 2015 rule was created by the Obama administration.
Proponents have argued that the rule helps alleviate financial pressures of H-1B families that would otherwise have to manage on a single income, a move that can help retain overseas talent in the U.S.
But it has also drawn criticism, including from Save Jobs USA, a group comprised of laid-off computer workers in California who claim their jobs were filled by programmers from India on H-1B visas.
Save Jobs USA filed a federal lawsuit in 2015 to block the H-4 rule after it was announced. That case has been pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“There’s a court deadline, which may be why they’re pushing this forward,” Stock said of the Trump administration’s proposed rule change
Chicago IL: With the chants of “Bharat Matha Ki Jai’ reverberating on the famed Michigan Avenue corridor, a massive congregation of deeply grieved Indian Americans bearing tricolor Indian and star-spangled American flags with placards of denouncing Pakistan for promoting terrorism – thundered through the famed Michigan Ave corridor with a huge protest rally in front of Pakistan Consulate Office that which shifted to the Chinese Consulate Office in what can be described as the largest rally of the Indian Americans in downtown Chicago on Thursday, February 21, 2019.
For the first time ever, the protest rally marched to the Chinese Consulate office to show displeasure and chastise Chinese government for their explicit support to Pakistan. More than 400 motivated Indian Americans assembled to show strength of unity and solidarity with the fallen soldiers. Large convoys of remarkable size of Indian Americans arrived in buses, cars and trains to show solidarity with India especially the victims of Pulwama terrorist attack perpetrated with active connivance of Pakistan.
Raising slogans within an earshot of Pakistani Consul General, the crowds continued to raise the protest decibels. In some remarks, emotions were visible but the resolve was unmistakably firm with each pledging to do their part to awaken the world community of these seemingly frequent murderous assaults on Indians.
The protest rally and the aftermath has spilled over massively on an unprecedented scale in the social media with texts pouring in at astonishing speed filling up the platform with grief, sorrow and anger for the cowardly terrorist attack and vowed that Indian Americans will launch a sustained campaign against Pakistan until it stops the cross-border terrorism.
With the patriotic fervor spilling over on the sidewalks of Michigan Ave. all the way to the Chinese Consulate Office down a mile away on Erie Street. The slogans and remarks were interspersed with grief and outrage at the dastardly attack on 40 helpless CRPF soldiers who were ambushed with a suicide attack.
Dr. Bharat Barai, a prominent Indian American community leader in his remarks welcomed the outpouring support of the Indian Americans gathered on a cold afternoon and thanked them for their unfailing patriotic spirit. Dr. Bharat Barai chastised Pakistan for their continued mayhem with their repeated murderous rampage in Him outlined 5000 years history of India with Kashmir as an epicenter of Religious, Educational, Cultural heritage. After 1947 partition of India, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir signed an instrument of accession with India, ratified by the elected constituent Assembly. He thanked the World powers including USA, UK, France, Russia, many Islamic countries for condemning the Pulwama attack and supporting India.
The protest rally was largely led by among others: Hemant Patel, Nirav Patel, J.D. Digvanker, Shamkanth Sheth, Prasad Yelalmanchi, Amar Upadhyay, Nitin Garg, Pandya, Chirayu Parikh and Amitabh Mittal. Each of them articulated messages that summarized that Pakistan is a hub of terrorism and is constantly manufacturing company of terrorist; while harboring and nurturing them to be a dark men of death. In a statement, Hemant Patel said Terrorism in not only a political issue; it is also an ideological war, which is affecting the entire humanity. The suicide bombers are brainwashed from their infancy, they are fed with hatred against humanity, and these merchants of death are assured of reward in paradise for killing people. Pakistani connection was found in most major terror attacks in the world. A request was made to the Muslim Community to educate and restrain the Jihadi ideology and terrorism.
FIA’s prominent Trustee Iftekhar Shareef in his remarks expressed outrage and demanded Pakistan cease & desist from perpetrating terrorism mayhem in India. Iftekhar Shareef urged the International communities to join India in collectively condemning this heinous act. Harish Kolasani, Rally Coordinator said if Pakistan were able to kill one Indian, there would be one million who will rise up against them. Harish Kolasani who managed logistics said the rally will bear a huge impact. Dr. Sanhita Agnihotri deeply lamented the loss of lives of the soldiers and pledged that the Indian American community will formulate a plan to support the families of the victims. Keerthi Kumar Ravoori said we mourn the loss of life of the soldiers in this deadliest terrorist attack in India and challenged Pakistan government to take proactive measurable actions to snub the scourge of terrorism.
From there, the Protesters went to the Chinese Consulate. They showed placards denouncing China’s double talk on terrorism. On one side, China denounces all terrorism. On the other side, China has consistently blocked UN Security Council from proscribing the Pakistani terrorist organizations. Lashkar e Taiba and its leader Hafiz Saeed; Jaish e Muhammed and its leader Masood Azhar have been responsible for many terror attacks including Mumbai terrorist attack killing 176 people and recent Pulwama attack killing 44 people. A memorandum was delivered to the Chinese Consulate.
Two Bills introduced on February 7th simultaneously in the US Senate and the House proposing to end per-country limits on employment-based green cards, a long-standing demand of advocacy groups of high-tech workers from India, has given rise to hope among hundreds of thousands green card applicants.
The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act Bill also increases the per-country caps for family-sponsored green cards from 7 percent to 15 percent. Without adding any new green cards, S. 386 creates a “first-come, first-served” system that alleviates the backlogs and allows green cards to be awarded more efficiently, the senators said in a press statement.
Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) who has announced candidacy for 2020 presidential election and Mike Lee (R-UT), introduced the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act that would also adjust per-country limits for family-based green cards.
An identical bill was tabled in the House of Representatives by Congressmaen Zoe Lofgren and Ken Buck, Chair and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, with co-sponsorship of a bipartisan group of 112 members of Congress.
“Ours is a nation of immigrants, and our strength has always come from our diversity and our unity,” Sen. Harris said in a statement. “We must do more to eliminate discriminatory backlogs and facilitate family unity so that high-skilled immigrants are not vulnerable to exploitation and can stay in the U.S. and continue to contribute to the economy. I’m proud to join with Sen. Lee on this bipartisan legislation to ensure that our country remains vibrant and dynamic,” she said.
News reports said the bill has broad bipartisan support and is additionally cosponsored by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jim Moran (R-KS) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Michael Bennet (D-CO), among others.
The bill has also been endorsed by Immigration Voice, Compete America Coalition, the Information Technology Industry Council, Google, Microsoft, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Heritage Foundation, La Raza, and many others.
“There is consensus that reforms to fix the nation’s immigration laws for high-skilled workers are long overdue,” said Andy Halataei, ITI Senior Vice President of Government Affairs.
“The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act would allow U.S. employers to attract and retain the world’s best and highly-educated employees, enabling highly-skilled workers who are committed to the United States to propel American innovation, grow the economy, and help create jobs in America. This bill will help maintain U.S. competitiveness as a nation,” it said.
On February 15th, the Sikh Coalition joined other civil rights organizations, immigration attorneys and activists for a day of action in response to Sikh and Cuban detainees protesting their detention conditions and unfair asylum bond denials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) El Paso Processing Center.
Sikh Coalition Legal Director, Amrith Kaur, and Community Development Manager, Inderpreet Kaur, joined Michigan immigration attorney, Ruby Kaur, to meet with Sikh detainees – including those who had been force-fed after hunger striking – inside the El Paso and Otero detention facilities. The visit was to assess detention center conditions, the health and treatment of the detainees and to ensure the rights to a fair judicial process were respected. They also met with U.S. Representative Escobar’s office and called for a congressional inquiry into the detention conditions.
“Nobody should flee their home country, pass their credible fear asylum interview and then spend the next year being called “Indian garbage” by ICE officers,” said Sikh Coalition Legal Director, Amrith Kaur. “There is absolutely no excuse for the violations that are occurring here.”
The Sikh Coalition was initially denied the right to visit with Sikh detainees at both the El Paso and Otero detention facilities, but finally was able to meet with 42 detainees, including those on the hunger strike.
Since January, when news broke that several Sikh detainees were on hunger strike protesting their detention, the Sikh Coalition has engaged to raise concerns about their physical safety, not sharing detainee information with the Indian Consulate, and protecting their religious rights inside the detention facility. On February 12th, the Sikh Coalition sent a demand letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and key congressional and senate offices insisting on further investigation and oversight related on all three issues.
Since then, the DHS Civil Rights division has launched a series of follow-ups to inquire into the Sikh detainees’ safety and religious rights, and the Sikh Coalition has demanded a meeting with ICE officials from the El Paso Processing Center. On Wednesday, February 13th, a U.S. district judge insisted that the government stop force-feeding two of the Sikh detainees. However, several Sikh detainees across the country remain on hunger strike as they continue to protest their conditions and unfair asylum bond denials.
“The Sikh Coalition does not provide immigration legal services, but as a civil rights organization, we have a responsibility to make sure that our government is respecting Sikh detainees’ religious rights, treating them without prejudice throughout the judicial process and further ensuring that their human rights are not violated here in the United States. For our organization, this is about making sure that everyone has equal access to due process and is treated with fairness,” said Sikh Coalition Executive Director, Satjeet Kaur.
The Sikh Coalition has previously provided support to detainees whose civil rights are being violated because they are not permitted to freely practice their religious beliefs while detained. Last year, this support included providing background expertise on Sikh religious observance as part of a court filing for the Oregon Federal Defender’s Office, which represents a number of Sikh detainees at the Sheridan Detention Center. This court filing, in part, led to the detention facility changing their policy and allowing Sikhs to maintain their dastaars.
Additionally, the Sikh Coalition continues working with organizations and sangats to gather actionable data on Sikhs who are detained so that we can better identify needs and resources. This support includes making dastaars, gutkas, parsad, and clean prayer space available at detention facilities and connecting detainees to Punjabi translators and lawyers, while providing oversight on humanitarian conditions within the detention facilities.
Traveler’s senior aviation correspondent Barbara Peterson says the A380 had its doubters from the start. “In fact, 12 years ago many aviation insiders thought the A380 was outdated before even before it took flight, questioning the rationale behind a plane that could carry twice as many people as the next-biggest jet, the 747,” she says. “While some airline marketers raved about the ‘real estate windfall’ they’d get from all that extra room, others worried about prosaic issues like the heavy, mostly-metal jet’s fuel consumption.”
One such worrier? Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia, who predicted in a 2006 interview with Peterson that, “In a few years, the A380 is just going to be an old chunk of metal with old engines. It’s almost last generation.” Sadly, it didn’t even take a full generation for that prophecy to come to pass, Peterson notes, as lighter, all-composite aircraft with advanced technology arrived to take the place of the superjumbo.
No U.S. airlines fly the jet, and sales have been limited even with some of the world’s biggest carriers, including Air France, Qantas, British Airways, Korean Air, and Lufthansa. Dubai-based Emirates, the largest operator of the A380, is particularly known for its design of the planes, which have an expansive all first- and business-class upper deck, replete with a bar and shower suites. The airline had more A380s on order, but said Thursday it had agreed to replace some A380s with A350 and smaller A330 planes.
“While we are disappointed to have to give up our order, and sad that the program could not be sustained, we accept that this is the reality of the situation,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and CEO of Emirates, in a statement. “For us, the A380 is a wonderful aircraft loved by our customers and our crew. It is a differentiator for Emirates. We have shown how people can truly fly better on the A380.”
Still, that doesn’t mean all A380s will disappear immediately. More than 200 of the superjumbo planes are currently flying, and will most likely continue to do so into the next decade, reports CNN. Just a few of the routes where you’ll be able to fly the plane: Paris to New York on Air France, Honolulu to Tokyo on All Nippon Airways, Frankfurt to Shanghai on Lufthansa, Singapore to Sydney on Singapore Airlines, and Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand on Emirates.
As many as 129 Indians are among the 130 foreign students arrested for enrolling at a fake university allegedly to remain in the US. The university in Detroit’s Farmington Hills was part of an undercover operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to expose immigration fraud, according to federal prosecutors who announced charges in the case. The arrest of such a large number of students has created panic among the Indian students.
Officials said all of them face deportation, besides being put under detention. A number of students have been put under some kind of house arrest with tracking device on their ankle, that prohibits them from moving out of a designated area in their neighbourhood.
As part of its investigations, early this week, the ICE arrested eight recruiters on criminal charges. From their names it appears that all of them are either Indian nationals or Indian-Americans. “These suspects aided hundreds of foreign nationals to remain in the United States illegally by helping to portray them as students, which they most certainly were not. HSI remains vigilant to ensure the integrity of US immigration laws and will continue to investigate this and other transnational crimes,” said Special Agent Charge Francis. According to the ICE, in 2017, as many as 249,763 Indian students were enrolled in the various American universities. Students from China topped the list with 481,106 in 2017.
On its website, the University of Farmington advertised an innovative STEM curriculum that would prepare students to compete in the global economy, and flexible class schedules that would allow them to enroll without disrupting their careers. The Michigan-based school touted the number of languages spoken by its president (four) and the number of classes taught by teaching assistants (zero.) Photos of the campus showed students lounging around with books on a grassy quad, or engaged in rapt conversation in its brightly-lit modern library. Tuition was relatively reasonable – $8,500 a year for undergraduates and $11,000 a year for graduate students.
“Located in the heart of the automotive and advanced manufacturing center of Southeast Michigan, the University of Farmington provides students from throughout the world a unique educational experience,” the site informed prospective applicants.
But there were no classes taking place at the university, which employed no instructors or professors. In court filings that were unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors revealed that the school’s employees were actually undercover agents working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The fake university had been set up in 2015 as part of an elaborate sting operation aimed at ensnaring foreign nationals who had initially come to the United States on student visas. Its “campus” consisted of a small office in a corporate park in the northwestern Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, Michigan, with no quad or library in sight.
The phony university was “being used by foreign citizens as a ‘pay to play’ scheme,” prosecutors allege. After forking over thousands of dollars, students would provide immigration authorities with evidence that they were enrolled in a full-time educational program. They could then continue to live and work in the United States under a student visa. But since the University of Farmington didn’t actually exist, they didn’t have the hassle of writing papers, taking tests or showing up to class.
Students knew that the scheme was illegal, “and that discretion should be used when discussing the program with others,” prosecutors wrote in their indictment, which was filed Jan. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
According to the Detroit News, which first reported on the undercover operation, dozens of University of Farmington students were arrested on immigration violations on Wednesday as part of a massive nationwide sweep, and are now potentially facing deportation. In addition, eight people who allegedly worked as “recruiters” for the school and collectively helped at least 600 students to remain in the country under false pretenses now face federal conspiracy charges.
The Department of Homeland Security’s list of certified schools where international students can enroll includes the University of Farmington. And the school made some pretense of being a legitimate institution. Before Wednesday night, when the school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were abruptly deleted, posts on social media notified students about school cancellations due to an ice storm, and advertised an upcoming admissions fair. It had a Latin motto – “Scientia et Labor,” meaning “Knowledge and Work” – and a handful of positive online reviews from people claiming to be satisfied alumni.
But no one enrolled at the university was making progress toward a degree, the indictment said. The “unique educational experience” promoted on the school’s website apparently consisted of not going to school at all.
There were some clues that not everything was aboveboard. The school’s website never said how many enrolled students it had, though it claimed that they came from all 50 states and 47 countries. It didn’t name the university’s president or the year when the school was founded. As the Detroit News’s Robert Snell noted on Twitter, a photo showing a diverse group of students deep in concentration came from Shutterstock. The university claimed to be accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, but did not appear in an online directory of accredited institutions on the organization’s website.
According to prosecutors, students were well aware that the school was a fraud. They allegedly chose to enroll anyway because doing so would allow them to remain in the country on F-1 nonimmigrant visas, which allow foreign citizens to temporarily reside in the United States while studying accredited academic institutions.
Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for ICE in Detroit, told local news station WXYZ that the students had entered the United States legally on F-1 visas after being accepted to legitimate schools, and had later transferred to the University of Farmington.
The federal indictments name eight people in eight states who allegedly worked as recruiters for the school. All have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and harboring aliens for profit. They face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The eight recruiters allegedly helped create fraudulent records, including transcripts, that students could give to immigration authorities. Authorities contend that they collectively accepted more than $250,000 in kickbacks for their work, not realizing that the payments were actually coming from undercover agents who worked for Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE.
“We are all aware that international students can be a valuable asset to our country, but as this case shows, the well-intended international student visa program can also be exploited and abused,” Matthew Schneider, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said in a statement emailed to media outlets on Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time that the feds have set up a fake university with the goal of rooting out visa fraud. Calling “pay to stay” a national security threat, officials announced in April 2016 that they had charged 21 people with recruiting international students who paid to enroll at the made-up University of Northern New Jersey so that they could get student visas. More than a dozen students who partook in the scheme later told the New York Times that they felt they had been deceived by the government.
Many of the students who enrolled at the University of Farmington appear to be Indian nationals who belong to the Telugu ethnic group. The American Telugu Association said in a Wednesday statement that “scores of Telugu students nationwide” had been arrested in early-morning raids, and that the organization was attempting to provide them with legal guidance.
As the News noted, the undercover investigation seems to have ramped up one month after President Trump took office. While the fake university was set up in 2015, it wasn’t until February 2017 that HSI agents began posing as university officials, the indictment said. The undercover operation, nicknamed “Paper Chase,” continued until earlier this month.
The Indian embassy has appointed a nodal officer to handle and coordinate all issues related to helping Indian students affected by the busting of the “pay-and-stay” racket run by a group of Indians that has put some 600 students under trouble.
The Indian embassy in the US has opened a 24/7 hotline to assist 129 Indian students arrested by the American authorities in the “pay-and-stay” university visa scam, officials have said. The two numbers – 202-322-1190 and 202-340-2590 – would be manned by senior embassy officials round the clock, officials said on Friday. The arrested students, their friends and family members can contact the embassy at cons3.washington@mea.gov.in.
The US announced that starting April 1, it will switch to a new system for processing H-1B petitions that will give priority to foreign workers with advanced degrees from an American institution of higher education, over those hired abroad, in India, China and other countries.
The new system will also introduce electronic registration of petitions, which, however, will be suspended for the upcoming H-1B 2020 season that will typically kick off from April 1.
The United States has announced that starting April 1, it will switch to a new system for processing H-1B petitions that will give priority to foreign workers with advanced degrees from an American institution of higher education, over those hired abroad, in India, China and other countries.
The new system will also introduce electronic registration of petitions, which, however, will be suspended for the upcoming H-1B 2020 season that will typically kick off from April 1.
The switch in the selection process is expected to increase the number of beneficiaries with advanced degrees from US institutions by an estimated 16% (or 5,340 workers). It is in line with President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions in support of merit-based immigration.
Francis Cissna, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which runs the H-1B visa programme, gave a nod to Trump in a statement announcing the new rule and said, “US employers seeking to employ foreign workers with an American masters or higher degree will have a greater chance of selection in the H-1B lottery in years of excess demand for new H-1B visas.”
Trump had himself signalled the new rule in a tweet earlier this month in which he had said “changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity and certainty to your stay, including a potential path to citizenship”. And, he had added, “We want to encourage talented and highly skilled people to pursue career options in the US.”
The US grants 65,000 visas to foreigner workers hired abroad for speciality professions sponsored by American employers every year under a congressionally mandated cap. Another 20,000 visas are granted to foreigners with advanced degree from US colleges and universities.
More than 70% of the total visas go to Indian beneficiaries hired by both US companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google, and US arms of Indian outsourcing giants such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro.
Like publics in other economically advanced countries with a high number and share of immigrants, a majority of Americans support encouraging the immigration of high-skilled people into the United States, according to a new survey of 12 countries by Pew Research Center in spring 2018.1
Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (78%) support encouraging highly skilled people to immigrate and work in the U.S., a percentage that roughly matches or is exceeded by Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia.
Smaller majorities share this positive view of high-skilled immigration in France, Spain and the Netherlands. Among the countries analyzed, only in Israel (42%) and Italy (35%) do fewer than half back high-skilled immigration.
Across the 12 countries, younger adults, more highly educated adults and adults with higher incomes tend to be more supportive of encouraging highly skilled people to immigrate to their countries – findings that are generally in line with other surveys on attitudes toward immigrants and immigration. (See Appendix B for demographic breakdowns.)
The Pew Research Center survey also reveals that even among people who would like to see overall immigration reduced, half or more in all but the Netherlands, Israel and Italy support encouraging high-skilled immigration.
More than a third of U.S. immigrants are highly educated, ranking the country in middle of similar advanced economies with high immigration
Among surveyed countries, in only two – Canada and Australia – do highly educated immigrants make up the majority of the foreign-born population, based on analysis of 2015 government censuses and labor force surveys.2
In the U.S., just over a third (36%) of immigrants ages 25 and older are college educated, ahead of Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece and Italy among the 12 countries, but behind the UK, Israel and Sweden.
Moving beyond surveyed countries, the share of the U.S. immigrant population with a college degree still ranks among the middle of 20 economically advanced countries that have 500,000 or more immigrants and populations that are about 10% or more foreign born (see Appendix B for more educational data by country).
It’s important to note that while the share of college-educated immigrants in the U.S. trails those of some other countries, the U.S. is home to the largest number of college-educated immigrants in the world. As of 2015, the U.S. had some 14.7 million immigrants ages 25 and older with a postsecondary diploma or college degree. This is more than three times the number in Canada (4.4 million) and about four times as many as the UK (3.4 million). Other countries with high numbers of college-educated immigrants include Australia (3.0 million), Germany (2.0 million) and France (1.8 million).
Despite trailing some other economically advanced countries, the U.S. immigrant population is better educated than ever, due in part to increased schooling in origin countries and a boost in high-skilled workers arriving from Asia and Africa.
Depending on country or region of origin, U.S. immigrant groups vary in their overall education levels. In 2015, fewer than one-in-ten (9%) Mexican immigrants ages 25 and older – the largest origin immigrant group in the U.S. – are college-educated. By contrast, more than half of immigrants from China (52%) and India (80%), the next two largest origin groups in the U.S., have a postsecondary education. Meanwhile, many sub-Saharan African immigrants in the U.S. are highly educated, often exceeding average education levels in the U.S.
How highly educated immigrants enter and stay in the U.S.
There are several ways for highly educated immigrants to enter the United States. Each year, thousands of highly educated foreigners temporarily work in the U.S. under the federal government’s Optional Practical Training (OPT) program and H-1B visa programs, the two largest sources of temporary, highly educated immigrant workers. Other highly educated immigrants enter or stay in the U.S. as lawful permanent residents, or immigrants with “green cards” (some of whom entered through family reunification visas).
There were nearly 1.5 million foreign graduates of U.S. colleges and universities who obtained authorization to remain and work in the U.S. through the Optional Practical Training between 2004 and 2016. The OPT program was developed to allow foreign students studying in the U.S. under student, or F-1, visas to gain practical work experience after graduating from a U.S. college or university. There are no limits on the number of foreign student graduates that can participate in the program. OPT participants can work between 12 and 36 months after graduation, depending on whether they have a STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) degree.
Between 2004 and 2016, there were about 1.5 million initial approvals in the H-1B visa program, the primary way that companies in the U.S. hire highly educated foreign workers, with most entering the U.S. from abroad. These are temporary visas that are awarded to employers on a first-come, first-served basis, with applications accepted each year beginning in April. H-1B visas are issued for up to six years and are renewable if the H-1B visa holder has a pending permanent residency (green card) application filed.
The U.S. government granted more than 14 million green cards from fiscal years 2004 to 2016 for lawful permanent residence based on a complex system of admission categories and numerical quotas. The majority (66% in fiscal 2017) went to immigrants who are sponsored by family members – either immediate family or other relatives of U.S. citizens – and a further 13% went to refugees or asylum seekers. There is no educational requirement for people applying as a family member of a U.S. citizen or coming into the country as a refugee or asylum seeker. Employment-related categories (including those with employment-based green cards, workers’ family members and those previously sponsored under the H-1B visa program) accounted for 12% of 2017 issued green cards. There is a limit on the number of family-sponsored and employment-based green cards that can be issued to immigrants from any one country in a fiscal year (currently set at no more than 7%). This has contributed to long wait times for certain nationalities, such as Indians or Mexicans, with these potential immigrants waiting for up to 10 years or more for their green cards, depending on the admission category.
A new survey shows that majority of Americans support high-skilled immigration contrary to a perception that high-skilled immigrants are displacing Americans as argued by the Trump administration to overhaul the H-1B programme, a major route for foreign professionals.
A new survey shows that majority of Americans support high-skilled immigration contrary to a perception that high-skilled immigrants are displacing Americans as argued by the Trump administration to overhaul the H-1B programme, a major route for foreign professionals.
Roughly eight in ten adult Americans — 78% — support encouraging highly skilled people to immigrate and work in the US, a report by Pew based on a survey of 12 countries said on Tuesday.
The support was around the same as in other advanced countries, but lower than in Sweden (88%) , the United Kingdom (85%), Canada (84%), Germany (81%) and Australia (79%).
The finding for the United States runs contrary to negative perception of the H-1B visa programme, which is a major route for high-skilled immigrants, among critics who say it has been misused to displace Americans with cheaper workers provided by outsourcing companies.
Supporters of the programme have argued it helps American companies make up for the shortage of locally available hands.
Siding with the critics, the Trump administration is in the midst of overhauling the system by raising the bar to qualify as highly skilled, and tightening rules for entry of foreigners in US schools and colleges, which industry sources say, have made the process cumbersome, unpredictable and expensive.
Asked about this gap between the opposition and public support, Pew senior researcher Phillip Connor, who also co-authored the report, said, “Those in the US who have more education are more likely to support the immigration of highly skilled people. Similarly, those in the US with a higher income are more likely to support the immigration of highly skilled people.”
Thousands of foreign professionals enter the US workforce every year through optional practical training (OPT) for students and H-1B. A large number of them stay on, if sponsored, by their employers to join the queue for citizenship, going first through acquiring permanent residency (Green Card).
There is a long waiting period for Indian applicants for Green Card, with one estimate putting over 100 years, because of backlog that piles up higher every year, because of a system that places a country-cap, a limit on the number of Green Cards given to people from any one country. And efforts are on to find a solution, legislatively, as the debate continues on the advantages and disadvantages of high skilled immigration.
On Saturday, January 19, 2019, leading NYC-based immigrant women’s advocacy organization, Sakhi for South Asian Women (Sakhi), commenced their 30th Anniversary with their participation in the 2019 Women’s March on both New York City and Washington, D.C.
As an official partner of the March on NYC and a Steering Committee member of the March on D.C., Sakhi convened 35 supporters and allies to advocate for progressive local and national discourse around equity and inclusivity. “It is a privilege to be able to march with my community”, says Sarika Patel, a member of Sakhi’s contingent. “The negative news we see and hear everywhere makes it so easy to feel discouraged. But, the sheer quantity of people who came out to march today is testament to the fact that there is never a shortage of like-minded individuals committed to change.”
Sakhi exists as the second-oldest South Asian women’s organization in the United States and recognizes that systemic impact demands the power of a collective. “This is an immensely critical time for women’s empowerment and gender justice,” says Executive Director, Kavita Mehra. “This administration’s continuous abuse of power must be met with accountability and we will continue mobilizing with our allies and supporters. The Women’s March provided us with the opportunity to advance a meaningful agenda that protects our communities from attacks on our dignity and self determination.”
Since its inception, Sakhi has responded to more than 10,000 survivors of violence and consistently mobilized New York City’s South Asian immigrant community to take a stand against abuse. Throughout 2019, the organization will highlight their 30 years with celebratory events across the city.
The US should select the “very best” among the applicants under the H-1B visas, the Trump administration told lawmakers Thursday, asserting that it was determined to ensure that the temporary work permits, most sought by Indian IT companies, do not harm domestic workers.
The H1B visa, popular among Indian IT companies and professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Perhaps no other visa category has received as much attention in recent years as the H-1B, as reports of abuse of the program have caused outrage among the public, Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told members of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee during a Congressional hearing.
“No qualified hardworking American should be forced to train their H-1B replacement, and then let go,” she said.
“The number of H-1B petitions routinely exceeds the statutory cap, and among that pool of petitions, we should endeavour to select the very best for the privilege of coming to the United States for work,” Nielsen said.
The Department of Homeland Security seeks to ensure that American workers are not pushed aside for the promise of cheaper, foreign labour, and the employers, recruiters or any of their agents do not exploit foreign workers, she said.
The Trump administration has stepped up its measures to detect employment-based visa fraud and abuse, but certain nonimmigrant visa programs need reform in order to protect American workers better, she said.
“While current law only requires it for certain employers, which are few in number and can easily meet the wage and degree exemption, all employers should be required to certify that they have made a good faith effort to recruit US workers before filing an H-1B petition, and have offered jobs to qualified and available American applicants,” Nielsen said.
Although current law prohibits some H-1B employers from displacing US workers, there are loopholes that must close, she told the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We have to make sure the H-1B programme does not harm American workers who may be as qualified and willing to do jobs that foreign workers are imported to fill,” she said.
As per US President Donald Trump’s ‘Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing current guidance and regulation for opportunities to protect American workers while also providing good faith employers the opportunity to recruit H-1B workers where needed.
“This balance is consistent with the statute and President Trump’s priorities. We also seek to work with Congress to make legislative changes that would provide more protections to the United States workforce,” Nielsen said.
Fueled by immigration, America’s Hindu population has reached 2.23 million, an increase of about one million or 85.8 percent since 2007, making Hinduism the fourth-largest faith, according to estimates based on wide-ranging study of religions in the nation.
The proportion of Hindus in the US population rose from 0.4 percent in 2007 to 0.7 percent last year, according to the Pew Research Center’s “Religious Landscape Study” published on Tuesday last week.
The study only gave the percentage shares of Hindus in the population, rather than numbers, but calculations by media outlets using the population proportions in the report and census projections showed that the number of Hindus rose from 1.2 million in 2007 out of a total US population of 301.2 million that year to 2.23 million in 2014 in a population of 318.88 million. This amounts to an increase of 1.03 million or 85.8 percent in the Hindu population during the seven-year period.
Pew said that it may have underestimated the size of the Hindu population. An earlier report from Pew on the future of world religions in April said that by 2050, Hindus would make up 1.2 percent of the US population and number 4.78 million. This would make the US Hindu population the fifth largest in the world.
Looking at the socio-economic profile of Hindus, the new Pew report said they had the highest education and income levels of all religious groups in the US: 36 percent of the Hindus said their annual family income exceeded $100,000, compared with 19 percent of the overall population. And 77 percent of Hindus have a bachelor’s degree compared to 27 percent of all adults and 48 percent of the Hindus have a post-graduate degree.
The Christian population in the US fell by 7.8 percent during the seven-year period, from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent last year, the Pew study said. That works out to about 11 million fewer Christians. However, “Christians remain by far the largest religious group in the United States, but the Christian share of the population has declined markedly,” the report said.
Underlying the change, there was a marked increase in the number of people who say they have “no particular religion,” the study reported. About 23 percent of American adults fell into this category, up seven percent from the 16 percent in 2007. Included in this broad category are atheists who make up 3.1 percent of the total US population and agnostics, four percent.
Compared to Christianity, the others are miniscule despite the increases. The second largest religion is Judaism, which accounts for 1.9 percent of the population, with an increase of 0.2 percent, the study found. It is followed by Islam with a 0.9 percent share of the population, up by 0.5 percent. Buddhism ties for the fourth place with Hinduism at 0.7 percent.
The US census does not ask questions about religion. The Pew Research Center, an independent Washington-based organization, surveyed more than 35,000 people across the US to fill this gap and arrive at the statistics.
The rising trend of Hinduism in the US contrasts with that in India. The Pew report released in April said that the share of Hindus in the Indian population was expected to decline by 2.8 percent, from 79.5 percent in 2010 to 76.7 percent in 2050 even though their numbers were projected to grow to almost 1.3 billion by that year in a total Indian population of nearly 1.7 billion.
Only 10 percent of the Hindus are converts, with Catholics and unaffiliated each accounting for 3 percent. Hindus are least likely to convert to other religions, according to the report: Of all the America adults who said they were raised as Hindus, 80 percent continued to adhere to Hinduism. Of those born Hindu, who did not any longer identify themselves as Hindus, 18 percent said they had no religious affiliation (a category that includes atheists and agnostics), and only one percent joined Christian Protestant sects.
Rajan Zed, the Nevada-based president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, attributed the high retention rate of Hinduism to “the focus on inner search, exploring the vast wisdom of scriptures and making spirituality more attractive to youth and children.”
The Hindu community in America is continuing with the traditional values of hard work, higher morals, stress on education, and sanctity of marriage amidst so many distractions. These are the highlights of the Hindu community profile in the report:
* Hindus have the lowest divorce rate of only 5 percent.
* Hindus are least likely to marry outside their religion: 91 percent have a spouse or partner who is a fellow Hindu.
* The median age of Hindu adults is 33 years.
* Five percent of San Francisco’s population is Hindu and three percent of New York City’s.
* Most Hindus live in the West (38 percent) and the Northeast (33 percent).
An anomaly in the report is that 62 percent of Hindus are men and 38 percent women, a difference of 24 percent, which may be due to the pattern of immigration.
President Donald Trump’s proposed “public charge” rule will disproportionately impact the Indian and Bangladeshi communities, especially children, elderly, poor, those with limited English proficiency and those suffering from medical conditions/disabilities, from establishing legal permanent residency in the United States.
The Trump administration has published its proposed changes to the public charge rule, which would penalize immigrants seeking permanent status for using certain public benefits. The draft rule is undoubtedly serious: It discriminates against families, has accelerated a “chilling effect” already hindering program enrollment, and marks the next step in the president’s ongoing immigrant crackdown.
Officials of the Asian American Federation, at a press conference with the New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and Human Resources Administration, on November 30th, in New York City, shared their concerns about the impact of the new policy by Trump.
The proposed rule will also restrict legal immigration from Asia, along with hurting those who are already living in the US and wish to adjust their status to permanent residency. The public charge rule will have a major impact on South Asian immigrant communities, as more than 10 percent of all green card applicants are from South Asia, as of the years 2016, officials said.
Officials pointed out that nearly 472,000 or 10% of the approximately five million South Asians in the US live in poverty. Among South Asian Americans, Pakistanis (15.8%), Nepali (23.9%), Bangladeshis (24.2%), and Bhutanese (33.3%) had the highest poverty rates. Bangladeshi and Nepali communities have the lowest median household incomes out of all Asian American groups, earning $49,800 and $43,500, respectively.
Nearly 61% of non-citizen Bangladeshi families receive public benefits for at least one of the four federal programs including TANF, SSI, SNAP, and Medicaid/CHIP; and 48% of non-citizen Pakistani families and 11% of non-citizen Indian families also receive public benefits.
On a citywide basis, the de Blasio Administration preliminary analysis has found that, if enacted, the proposal could result in an annual loss of $235 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or “food stamps”), Cash Assistance, and Supplemental Security Income and the state supplement (SSI/SSP), if just 20% of the approximately 274,000 non-citizen New Yorkers currently receiving these benefits were to withdraw from participation.
It would also lead to an additional loss of $185 million in related economic activity, if the same group of New Yorkers were to withdraw from receiving these three named benefits.
The officials urged communities to note the fact that the proposed rule is not in effect and still has to go through a public process and public comments are being accepted for the Federal Register Notice up until Monday, December 10.
“Unique comments are highly recommended and must be submitted in English. We encourage those who need help translating their stories into English to reach out to their local community organizations. It’s important to tell individualized stories and arguments for how this affects you, your loved ones, and your community,” they said.
“This proposed rule from the Trump Administration is a direct attack on our City’s core values and the lifelines that millions of hard-working New Yorkers rely upon every day. We will not stand for it. We at DSS remain committed to connecting all New Yorkers in need to the benefits for which they are eligible, ensuring they can put food on the table and make ends meet, no matter where they’ve come from,” Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks, said, in the press release.
A press release listed these websites, to help in writing comments before submission:
Chicago IL: The Passport Seva Program has brought in a huge transformation towards delivery of Passport Services in India. This has seen a sea change in last 4 ½ years.
In the year 2017, there was a 19% growth in passport related services. The monthly submission of applications has crossed one million marks for the first time. More than six crores passports have been issued through the Pasport Seva system. The Ministry took many significant steps to improve the service delivery experience for the citizens. Not only did the work of simplifying Passport rules has been achieved with the same vigour but passport services have also been taken closer to the doorsteps of the citizens. The Ministry with Department of Posts took the decision to start Passport Seva Kendars in Head Post Offices. As a result, 236 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) have been operationalised as on date and many more are in pipeline. This when added to 36 Passport Offices and 93 erstwhile Passport Seva Kendras makes a total of 365 Passport Offices for public.
The Ministry has initiated the integration of Passport Seva Program at all Indian Embassies and Consulates across the globe. As part of this initiative, the Ministry successfully initiated the Pilot at High Commission of India, London followed by Consulate General of India, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
In the United States of America, the Ministry has completed the implementation of this program at its Embassy in Washington, D.C., CGI New York, CGI San Francisco, CGI Atlanta and CGI Houston. It is a matter of great pleasure for the Ministry to launch the Global Passport Seva Program at Consulate General of India, Chicago for the Indian diaspora residing here, thus making all Indian Consulates and Embassy located in the US, live with the new system. The new system will help in easy and convenient application submission process, will usher-In standardization, digital overhauling, end-to-end status tracking and enhance security.
The Government of India planned to roll out the Global Passport Seva Program at all Indian Embassies/ Consulates within next 3-4 months.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to first electronically register with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated registration period. Under the proposed rule, USCIS would also reverse the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B cap and the advanced degree exemption, likely increasing the number of beneficiaries with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education to be selected for an H-1B cap number, and introducing a more meritorious selection of beneficiaries.
The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelors or higher degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent. When USCIS receives more than enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, is used to select the petitions that are counted towards the number of petitions projected as needed to reach the cap.
The proposed rule includes a provision that would enable USCIS to temporarily suspend the registration process during any fiscal year in which USCIS may experience technical challenges with the H-1B registration process and/or the new electronic system. The proposed temporary suspension provision would also allow USCIS to up-front delay the implementation of the H-1B registration process past the fiscal year (FY) 2020 cap season, if necessary to complete all requisite user testing and vetting of the new H-1B registration system and process. While USCIS has been actively working to develop and test the electronic registration system, if the rule is finalized as proposed, but there is insufficient time to implement the registration system for the FY 2020 cap selection process, USCIS would likely suspend the registration requirement for the FY 2020 cap season.
Currently, in years when the H-1B cap and the advanced degree exemption are both reached within the first five days that H-1B cap petitions may be filed, the advanced degree exemption is selected prior to the H-1B cap. The proposed rule would reverse the selection order and count all registrations or petitions towards the number projected as needed to reach the H-1B cap first. Once a sufficient number of registrations or petitions have been selected for the H-1B cap, USCIS would then select registrations or petitions towards the advanced degree exemption. This proposed change would increase the chances that beneficiaries with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education would be selected under the H-1B cap and that H-1B visas would be awarded to the most-skilled and highest-paid beneficiaries. Importantly, the proposed process would result in an estimated increase of up to 16 percent (or 5,340 workers) in the number of selected H-1B beneficiaries with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education.
USCIS expects that shifting to electronic registration would reduce overall costs for petitioners and create a more efficient and cost-effective H-1B cap petition process for USCIS. The proposed rule would help alleviate massive administrative burdens on USCIS since the agency would no longer need to physically receive and handle hundreds of thousands of H-1B petitions and supporting documentation before conducting the cap selection process. This would help reduce wait times for cap selection notifications. The proposed rule also limits the filing of H-1B cap-subject petitions to the beneficiary named on the original selected registration, which would protect the integrity of this registration system.
On April 18, 2017, President Trump issued the Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, instructing DHS to “propose new rules and issue new guidance, to supersede or revise previous rules and guidance if appropriate, to protect the interests of U.S. workers in the administration of our immigration system.” The EO specifically mentioned the H-1B program and directed DHS and other agencies to “suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries.”
Additional information on the proposed rule is available in the Federal Register. Public comments may be submitted starting Monday, December 3, when the proposed rule publishes in the Federal Register, and must be received on or before January 2, 2019.
With the Train 18 speeding up to 180 kmph between Kota junction and Kurlasi station during a trial on Sunday, efforts are on to launch the first indigenously-built Trainset on December 25 between New Delhi and Varanasi.
“Christmas Day also happens to be the birthday of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and it would be a tribute to the great statesman if we manage to launch the next-generation train on that day,” a senior railway official told IANS.
Since the input cost of the Rs 100-crore train is high, the fare structure will be also be higher than the normal fare.
However, the official added that the decision on its launch date and fare were yet to be taken as the trial was not yet complete.
According to the tentative plan, the train will start from New Delhi station at 6 a.m. and is expected to reach Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, at 2 p.m.
For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 p.m., from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30 p.m.
It was a thrilling experience onboard Train 18 during the various trials on Sunday — including a speed run on a straight track, speed test on one degree curve at 150 kmph, and two degree curve at 140 and 150 kmph — on the 113 km stretch from Kota to Kurlasi under the watchful eyes senior railway officials as well as those from the national transporter’s Research Design and Standards Organisation.
Ladoos were distributed in the train when it clocked 180 kmph. The first sweets were offered to loco pilot Padam Singh Gurjar and his assistant Onkar Yadav.
“We are quite excited to be part of this great occasion,” Padam Singh told IANS after having the sweet. I feel proud to be part of this historic trial,” added Yadav.
It was a smooth ride for those inside — occupying rotating seats to match the direction of the train – as the Train 18 became the first train to touch such high speed on the Indian rail network.
The train started its trial run at 9.30 a.m., from Kota, and returned to the junction at 6 p.m., after negotiating several rivers, bridges and curves. The Trainset does not require a locomotive as it is a self-propelled on electric traction, like metro trains.
Now the Trainset has to undergo what is called a long confirmatory run and also test its emergency braking distance before it gets a clearance from the Commissioner, Railway Safety (CRS), for commercial operations to commence.
“We are expecting the trials to be over in a week and after that we will seek CRS clearance,” said the official.
Although the speed touched 180 kmph during Sunday’s trial run, the Train-18 will only be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph in its commercial operations.
After the successful completion of 115 kmph test run on the Bareli-Moradabad section last week, the next-generation train — indigenously developed at Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory — is required to undergo the 180 kmph trial run here till December 4.
Equipped with world class facilities, the Rs 100 crore Trainset aims to take passenger-comfort to a new level with onboard WiFi, a GPS-based information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points, and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature according to occupancy and weather.
The 16-coach train will have two executive compartments with 52 seats each, and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each. (IANS)
India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh launched the ‘Passport Seva Service’, a new initiative to streamline passport delivery services to Indian citizens living in the United States, with inaugurations in New York, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia, last week. The program will be launched at Indian consulates in Houston, Chicago and San Francisco in the next two weeks.
The Ministry of External Affairs has over the years taken many significant steps to improve the delivery of passport related services. The ‘Passport Rules’ for one, has been simplified to a large extent. The passport services have also been taken closer to the doorsteps of citizens.
Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, presented a copy of the new issue of the magazine US-India Global Review, published by the New York-based Parikh Foundation for India’s Global Development, to India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the launch of
the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
In India, the Ministry of External Affairs together with the Department of Posts took the decision to start Passport Seva Kendras in Head Post Offices as well. As a result, 236 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras are in operation and many more are in the pipeline. This, when added to 36 Passport Offices and 93 erstwhile Passport Seva Kendras makes a total of 365 Passport Offices available for the public, according to a statement by the government.
The Passport Seva Program since its inception has brought huge transformation towards delivery of passport services in India. The ministry also initiated the integration of Passport Seva Program at all Indian embassies and consulates across the globe.
As part of this initiative, the ministry successfully initiated the pilot program at the High Commission of India, London, followed by the Consulate General of India in Birmingham and in Edinburgh. The Government of India plans to roll out the Global Passport Seva Program at all Embassies/ Consulates globally within the next three-to-four months, according to a press release.
Singh inaugurated the Passport Seva Service at the Consulate General of India in New York on November 21. Over the weekend, he launched it also at the Embassy of India in Washington, DC, and at the Consulate General of India in Atlanta.
Singh also attended a community reception for him at the TV Asia studios in Edison, New Jersey, where he talked about the new service. Present at the meet were several prominent community leaders, including Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, the Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media, Padma Shri H R Shah, the founder of TV Asia, and Ramesh Patel of the FIA-Tristate area.
An NRI receives their new passport from India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the launch of the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Photo by: Peter Ferreira)
Singh explained that apart from significant reduction in time to process a passport, there will be more efficient digital verification process. The service will also provide enhanced tracking facilities, apart from new security features.
In Washington, Singh handed over passports processed under the new project to five Indians, including two children, with the Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna looking on. He did the same to families in New York.
Addressing a gathering after launching the ‘Passport Seva’ project at the Indian Embassy in Washington on Saturday, Singh said the passport offices at Indian missions have been digitally linked with the data centers In India, which would speed up the process of issuing passport.
The Deputy Consul General of India in New York Shatrughna Sinha speaking at the launch of the ‘Passport Seva Service’ at the Indian Consulate in New York, on November 21, 2018. (Photo by: Peter Ferreira)
Earlier this week, the Indian mission at New York issued passports in less than 48 hours. “This is going to happen across the world,” Singh said, handing over passports issued under the new project to citizens abroad, reported PTI.
Asserting that in the coming days India will have the best passport services in the world, the minister said there has been a major simplification of rules and regulations for passport applicants and verification of a lot of information of the applicants would be done digitally.
“This is actually going to quantitatively and qualitatively improve our passport services immensely, both in the scope of the applications that can be handled and also in the way they will be handled and the way they will be integrated into the overall much better consular services,” said Sarna, speaking at the launch, in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Sudhir Parikh, speaking at a community reception for India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the TV Asia studios, in Edison, New Jersey, on November 22, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
The minister said in the next few months, the Indian government will issue a new set of passports, the design of which has already been approved.
The new passports will have all kinds of security features and better printing and paper quality, Singh said. However, “there will be no change in the color of the Indian passport,” he clarified.
Speaking at the inauguration in New York, Singh said the “Passport Seva was in the government corridor for a long time and only the current government has let it happen.”
He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got “a vision” and “big ideas”.
Padma Shri H R Shah, Founder of TV Asia, speaking at a community reception for India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, at the TV Asia studios, in Edison, New Jersey, on November 22, 2018. (Gunjesh Desai/ nayaface.com)
“He has got the capability to take decisions and that is what has helped in bringing the idea of Digital India, and Passport Seva is a part of that. One of the things that the prime minister has emphasized is ‘maximum governance, minimum government’ and Passport Seva is that. We have decentralized it. We have taken it down right to the post offices, we have made things simpler and you do not see something like this in any other governmental department,” Singh said.
“The mission interpretation of the passport services with the Passport Seva Program was much needed. I myself have served as a passport officer and in many cases for people belonging to the Indian diaspora and living abroad for many years, whenever they used to apply for a passport, there would be ordinate delays sometimes because document verification would be delayed, sometimes police verification would be delayed and these delays would be eliminated,” Sinha said.
“Many people come here on a work visa and they stay here for a long time and after getting many visa extensions, the visas may be valid but the passports become invalid so they come to India for the renewal of their passports. With the Passport Seva Program, they don’t even have to do that anymore,” Sinha explained.
Rajesh Dogra, Project Director of the Passport Seva Program, explained that it is an iconic program. “It is a huge transformational program which has really changed the way passport services are delivered to the citizens of India and TCS is very proud to be associated with this path breaking project of the Government of India. We signed the contract in the year 2008, completed the roll out in 2012 and in the last four to five years we have seen a huge change in the way in which passport services have evolved primarily because of the government’s intention to be more citizen centric with changes in the process, as well as changes in the rules or easing out the rules so that a common person can just walk to the passport office and obtain a passport,” Dogra said.
“This program has helped to demystify the passport services in India and TCS has been partner of ministry right from Day 1. We have set up 77 Passport Seva kendras, along with a call center, the entire system application, which we have developed now, and also the changes in applying for a passport, including an app,” Dogra added. “The program gets a 99.5 percent excellent rating from all of the citizens who use it on a day to day basis in India.”
New figures released on Thursday show a rise in the number of visas granted to Indian professionals, visitors, students and family members, but also reflect the Brexit reality of more EU citizens leaving the United Kingdom.
Indians were granted the highest number of visitor visas during the year ending September 2018: up 41,224 (or 10%) to 4,68,923; Chinese and Indian nationals alone accounted for just under half (47%) of all visit visas granted.
The demand for Indian professionals continued during the year, with 55 per cent of all Tier 2 (skilled) visas granted to them, the figures released by the Office for National Statistics show.
The number of Indian students coming to study at UK universities also showed a 33 per cent rise, to 18,735. Chinese and Indian students accounted for almost half of all students visas granted during the year.
There was also an increase in the family-related visas for Indians (up 881 to 3,574). The number of EEA family permits given to Indians (members of families of EU citizens) was also up 4,245 to 8,360, official sources said.
Figures showing more EU citizens leaving than arriving in the UK prompted renewed concern over the impact of Brexit. The net migration from the EU to the UK slumped to a six-year low, while non-EU migration is the highest in more than a decade.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “EU migrants have been leaving in larger numbers since the referendum, and net inflows have greatly decreased”.
“The lower value of the pound is likely to have made the UK a less attractive place to live and work and economic conditions in several of the top countries of origin for EU migrants have improved”.
As many as 2,400 Indians are languishing in various American jails for illegally crossing the US border to seek asylum in the country, according to the latest figures. These detainees, a significant number of whom are from Punjab, are seeking asylum, claiming that they “experienced violence or persecution” in India.
As many as 2,382 Indians are lodged in 86 jails in the US, according to the information obtained by North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) through Freedom of Information Act. According to figures as of October 10, a total of 377 Indian nationals are detained at California’s Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center, 269 at Imperial Regional Adult Detention Facility, 245 at the Federal Correctional Institution Victorville, and 115 at Washington State’s Tacoma ICE Processing Center.
“Most of the detainees at the federal facilities are asking for asylum claiming that they ‘experienced violence or persecution’ in their home country,” NAPA president Satnam S Chahal told PTI.
“This is a matter of serious concern that thousands of Indians, with an overwhelming majority of them being from Punjab, are languishing in jails in the US,” he said.
Chahal who has been working in the field for past several years alleged that there is a nexus of human traffickers and officials in Punjab, who encourage a young Punjabis to leave their homes to illegally enter the US and charge Rs 35-50 lakhs from each individual.
Human trafficking is a criminal act which affects the global community and consequently Punjabis are too victims of this episode, he said.
“The Punjabi enthusiasm to migrate to affluent countries in search of greener pastures has given the traffickers to exploit them,” Chahal said.
“Failure to reach their promised destination leads to deportation, exploitation, indebtedness, imprisonment and even death,” he rued.
The NAPA urged the Punjab government to strictly enforce human trafficking laws that have been passed by the State Assembly in recent years.
The Trump administration has introduced a number controversial policies in line with its hardline stance on immigration.
Last week, the administration decided to restrict the entry of illegal migrants who cross the southern border with Mexico to seek asylum in the US.
Air India announced that it will introduce three-times-a-week nonstop service between New York’s JFK International Airport and Mumbai, effective December 7, 2018.
The flights will depart at 11:05 am from JFK on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on 777-300ER planes. They will arrive in Mumbai at 12:10 pm the following day.
With the current JFK – Delhi daily service, the new flights bring nonstop JFK – India service to 10 flights a week, while increasing total nonstop service from the U.S. to India to 36 nationwide.
These include daily nonstop service from Newark (EWR) to Mumbai and Chicago (ORD) to Delhi, 3x weekly Washington (IAD) to Delhi, and 9x weekly San Francisco (SFO) to Delhi.
All flights offer convenient connections from the U.S. to major cities across India, including Bangalore, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and more.
To celebrate the launch of the only nonstop flight between JFK and Mumbai, Air India is offering special fares on the new route, good for travel from December 9, 2018 through May 11, 2019. This offer is available for a limited time. All Air India’s nonstop flights from the U.S.A. feature First, Business, and Economy Class and a choice of Continental or Indian cuisine served in a style that is distinctly Indian.
“The additional New York to Mumbai nonstop service reflects the growing popularity of India as a business and leisure destination” said Bhuvana Rao, Air India’s Regional Head in the Americas, in a statement. “And for the thriving Indo -American community, the nonstop service and seamless connections to major cities across India provide an important and convenient way to remain connected to families and friends.”
Air India, India’s national airline, has been in operation since 1932. Today, the airline serves 35 international destinations on four continents, and 66 cities across India. The airline’s fleet of 125 aircraft, including B787 Dreamliners and B777LR’s and ER’s, is one of the world’s youngest.
Despite restrictions on visitors to the US by the Trump administration, foreign students seeking higher education continue to rise. India is the second largest source country of foreign students in the United States after China, according to a new official report.
The biannual report on international student trends, released Oct. 28 by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that India was the second largest source country of foreign students in 2017, with 249,763 students from the country studying in American universities. China sent 481,106 students.
The total number of students from India and China studying in the U.S. was out of a total of over 1.5 million international students studying in various educational institutions in the U.S. in 2017.
“Forty-nine percent of the F and M student population in the United States hailed from either China (377,070 students) or India (211,703 students), and interest continues to grow,” the report said.
“Over the reporting period, both China and India saw proportional growth between 1 and 2 percent, with China sending 6,305 more students and India sending 2,356 more students. It is this level of participation from China and India that makes Asia far and away the most popular continent of origin. In fact, 77 percent of all international students in the United States call Asia home,” the report noted.
China and India together accounted for nearly half of the foreign students in America, followed by three other Asian countries — South Korea (95,701), Saudi Arabia (72,358) and Japan (41,862) — in the top five. Other countries in the top 10 are Canada, Vietnam, Brazil, Taiwan and Mexico.
Despite being second in the overall standing, India topped the list of students with STEM OPT authorization.
While India topped the list of STEM OPT authorization with 50,507 students, China came in second with 21,705 students. They were followed by South Korea (1,670), Taiwan (1,360), and Iran (1,161).
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Optional Practical Training (OPT) program is a 24-month extension of OPT for qualifying students with STEM degrees.
The biannual report, however, said the total number of SEVIS records for active F and M students decreased by 0.5 percent, from 1,208,039 in March 2017 to 1,201,829 in March 2018. The J-1 exchange visitor population increased by 4 percent from 201,408 exchange visitors in March 2017 to 209,568 visitors in March 2018.
Of the four major regions within the continental United States, the Northeast and South hosted the largest number of F and M students and were the only two regions to experience growth over the reporting year. The Northeast welcomed 2 percent more F and M students, while the international student population in the South grew by less than a percentage point.
Four U.S. colleges have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, stating that a new policy which was implemented Aug. 9 adversely impacts international students.
Indians constitute the second-largest population of international students, behind China. About 190,000 students from India are currently studying in the U.S. or completing their Optional Practical Training.
Formerly, students who stayed on after their course of study was completed only began to accrue “unlawful presence” after the Department of Homeland Security issued a formal finding of a status violation, or the day after an immigration judge issued an order of deportation.
But under the new policy, students begin accruing unlawful presence if they stay on even one day post-graduation. Accruing unlawful presence for more than 180 days could bar them from returning to the U.S. for a period of three to 10 years. (See earlier story.) The new policy also expressly prohibits international students from working: even informal jobs such as babysitting are considered to be in violation of the new policy.
The colleges that have filed suit include Haverford in Pennsylvania, the New School in New York, Guilford College in North Carolina, and Foothill-De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif. The lawsuit was filed in district court in North Carolina.
USCIS has said that the new policy is needed to reduce visa overstays. USCIS Director Lee Francis Cissna has previously stated: “F, J, and M nonimmigrants are admitted to the United States for a specific purpose, and when that purpose has ended, we expect them to depart, or to obtain another, lawful immigration status.”
“The message is clear: these nonimmigrants cannot overstay their periods of admission or violate the terms of admission and stay illegally in the U.S. anymore.”
But critics state the new policy is unduly harsh on international students, and imposes new burdens on an already-overburdened immigration system.
“Now, when a government official or immigration judge determines that an F, J, or M visa holder is out-of-status, the unlawful-presence clock will be backdated to the day on which defendants conclude that the visa holder first fell out-of-status,” the lawsuit filed against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina states.
“The immigration system is beset with processing delays, and many of these status determinations are made when an individual is applying for new immigration benefits. Thus, the new policy’s use of a backdated unlawful-presence clock will render tens of thousands of F, J, and M visa holders subject to three- and ten-year reentry bars without any opportunity to cure,” stated the lawsuit.
The lawsuit filed this week lists “a multitude of ways in which a well-intentioned individual on an F, J, or M visa can be adjudicated out-of-status,” including by failing to alert his or her institution of a change of information, such as a change in address; failing to obtain approval for dropping below a minimum course load; or working without authorization or in excess of the allowable 20 hours on campus per week, reported the Web site Inside Higher Ed.
In addition to errors on the student’s part, the suit says that a student could be wrongly reported out of status because of errors made by a college official in updating the SEVIS database. Another scenario could be that USCIS retroactively determines a student fell out of status on a given date if it found that the student’s work placement through the optional practical training or curricular practical training programs did not meet the letter of the regulations.
The lawsuit states that immigration court backlogs could mean a lot more students accruing unlawful presence as they wait for their cases to be adjudicated.
“We think this is going to snare thousands upon thousands of well-intentioned students who are trying to comply, but mistakes happen or they just can’t predict what USCIS might determine down the road,” Paul Hughes, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown and the lead lawyer for the four colleges that have sued to challenge the new unlawful-presence policy, told Inside Higher Ed.
“It is gratifying to inform you that the US Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi (R), in response to AAPI’s request, has introduced a Bill, S.281, in the US Senate with dozens of his colleagues in the Senate,” said Dr. Sampat Shivangi, Co-Chair AAPI Legislative Committee. “AAPI leadership had met Sen. Roger Wicker in April 2018 and urged him to introduce a Bill in the US Senate expediting the H-1B visa process for Physicians of Indian origin, who are waiting for their Green Card for years and decades. We, at AAPI are grateful to Senator Wicker for heeding to our request and introducing the legislation.”
Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), pointed out that in order to meet the growth in demand and shortage of physicians, the US has looked up to the highly trained and qualified physicians from other countries to meet our growing demand for physicians to meet our nation’s healthcare needs. In this context, AAPI has joined other Medical Association in the country in urging the US to expedite and reduce/eliminate the hurdles for speedy process of the applicants seeking H-1B visa. The J-1 visa to qualified physicians, enabling these foreign-trained physicians to serve our nation’s healthcare needs.
“As the rapidly approaching start date for all GME programs, we at AAPI want to urge the US administration to expedite review of pending H-1B/J-1 Visa applications by non-U.S. International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who have been accepted to postgraduate training programs in order to avoid unnecessary delays,” Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of AAPI, had said in August this year, urging the Trump administration to expedite the visa process for physicians.
American Medical Association (AMA) is in full support of such a bill and has highlighted the plight of such physicians who are struck in the green card backlog.
Dr. Naresh Parikh, joined by the senior leadership of AAPI, presented a Memorandum to the Consul General of India in New York, Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty. While acknowledging that there is a projected increase in the total number of office visits to primary care physicians from a base of 462 million in 2008 to 565 million in 2025, due to aging of the US population as well as the average number of visits to primary care physicians projected to increase, resulting in higher demands and reduced supply of physicians, pointing that the US will be short by more than 90,000 physicians by 2020 and 130,000 physicians by 2025, AAPI leaders urged the Trump administration to expedite the process for Visas to physicians, enabling them to work for the greater health of the people of this adopted land of theirs.
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 co-sponsored by Sen. Wicker amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family-based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.
“Indian-Americans constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but they account for nine percent of the American doctors and physicians,” Dr. Vinod Shah, President of AAPI’s Legislative Committee, pointed out. “The overrepresentation of Indians in these fields (engineering, IT and medicine) is striking – in practical terms, one out of seven doctors is likely to be of Indian Heritage. They provide medical care to over 40 million of US population,” he added.
“We are much grateful for Senator Roger Wicker for his leadership on this issue where our community of high skilled workers may be engineers or Physicians who are serving in under-served regions in the nation, providing outstanding services to millions of Americans,” he added.
“Senator Roger Wicker not only has introduced this bill, but has become the Champion and our voice in the US Senate. This US bill S 281 will bring fairness for high skilled, specially our young Physician group and so also to I.T engineers across USA. This is a fairness bill, we all welcome,” Dr. Shivangi added. “Thanks to AAPI and AAPI leadership acting promptly on this issue. I feel this a major achievement for AAPi in the Legislative wing. Of course, the work is only half done as bill has to be moved and voted by entire US Senate and the US Congress,” he added.
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic Medical Association in the nation, representing the interests of over 100,000 physicians, Fellows and Residents in the United States, while working closely with the Lawmakers individually, regionally and nationally through our AAPI Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, have consistently supported a comprehensive immigration reform.
Dr. Parikh lauded the efforts of AAPI’s Legislative Wing, in leading the initiatives of AAPI, in bringing to the forefront the issue of expedited Visa process for physicians from abroad, who want to serve in this country. For more information, please visit: www.aapiusa.org
ITServe Alliance, a non-profit trade association of over a thousand companies in the IT service sector has sued the United States Citizenship and Immigration services (USCIS) for granting H-1B applicants with visas valid for less than three years.
The lawsuit petition filed by ITServe Alliance claims that there were cases in which the USCIS issued H-1B visas valid for periods shorter than three years. According to the US immigration policies, H-1B visas are granted to applicants for 3-year periods, unless required less by the sponsoring employer.
ITServe Alliance points out in its indictment that USCIS does not hold the authority to act against the US laws by shortening the duration of visas issued.
The Dallas, Texas-based ITServe Alliance, comprised primarily of Indian Americans, noted in its lawsuit that prior to the advent of the Trump administration, USCIS could process H-1B applications – selected via a lottery each year and capped at 85,000 – within six to eight months.
However, the organization stated that in the last 18 months, USCIS is taking eight months or longer, with a greatly-increased number of Requests For Evidence which lengthen the already-lengthy process. “The processing was so slow that many employees lost the work authorization status and had to stop working,” noted ITServe Alliance.
In the case of H-1B extensions, USCIS approved some for very short periods – as low as one day – so that employers had to reapply and file new fees of several thousand dollars, claimed ITServe Alliance. Extensions previously were standardly approved for up to three years.
In many cases, approval notices have been sent after the H-1B work permit has expired and the worker has returned back to the home country, claimed the plaintiffs.
“Like every employer in the IT industry, ITServe members have difficulty hiring enough U.S. workers to meet the demand. Our members seek H-1B visas to fill the gap between the supply and demand for IT professionals in these specialized fields,” ITServe Alliance president Gopi Kandukuri said in a court filing.
These changes seem vindictive to ITServe members who have hired H-1B visa-holders, he said. The cumbersome process has made employers less willing to hire H-1B workers since it is unclear when they can begin work and how long their extension will last.
“Much of our workforce is constantly under a pending request for (an) extension and could at any moment be forced to leave this country after performing the same job for years,” said Kandukuri.
“The delays, and expenses created by Defendant’s policies are compounded by the fact that it has recently changed how it adjudicates and determines what is a ‘specialty occupation’,” stated ITServe Alliance. The Trump administration last year knocked out several types of work in its list of specialty occupations.
In July, ITServe had filed another lawsuit against USCIS against the Trump administration’s decision to restrict foreign workers to operate only from their employer’s premises and not on third-party sites.
The US government has reportedly proposed massive changes to the H-1B visa system, in 2019. A key highlight of these likely changes – which is bound to see a drastic reduction of skilled workers coming in directly from overseas to take up jobs in the US – will benefit greatly foreign students who are either enrolled or have an advanced degree from accredited US educational institutions, especially in the STEM fields of study.
The changes to the H-1B visa system are listed in the Unified Fall Agenda by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), released on October 17, 2018. The Agenda is published twice a year by the US government, and lists all the short-term regulatory changes they are likely to put into effect. The changes do not require the approval of Congress.
On September 11, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) suspended premium processing for H-1B visas until February 19, 2019. H-1B visas are granted to highly skilled foreign workers and–more often than not–requested by Silicon Valley tech companies. Formerly, premium processing allowed companies to pay an additional fee to expedite their H-1B visa requests and receive a resolution within two weeks. While processing times vary between facilities, now you can expect to wait anywhere from three to nearly eight months to hear back about a case, according to USCIS.
“People have already been waiting close to six months and now it looks like the wait will have to be much longer than that,” says Jennifer Y. Lee, an immigration lawyer based in the Bay Area. “Some of these cases could continue until early next year,” she warns.
The DHS states: “Consistent with the Buy American and Hire American, EO 13788’s direction to suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries, this regulation would help to streamline the process for administering the H-1B cap and increase the probability of the total number of petitions selected under the cap filed for H-1B beneficiaries who possess a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education each fiscal year.”
Every year, a total of 85,000 H-1B visas are allocated to foreign workers, of which 20,000 are guaranteed for those who have a post graduate degree from the US, with the other 65,000 going to workers who come directly from overseas. Last year, skilled workers from India got 70% of those 65,000 visas. If applications for the master’s cap exceed the 20,000 quota, then they are pooled with other lottery applicants, in the general category.
According to a Politico report, quoting an unidentified DHS official, the United States Customs and Immigrations Services (USCIS) would in the next lottery put all the master’s cap applicants in the general 65,000-visa pool. If that cap were reached, any additional advanced degree holders would be redirected to the 20,000-visa pool. The administration expects the change could lead to a 15 percent increase in H-1B visa holders with US advanced degrees, said the Politico report.
Foreign-origin spouse of any Indian national or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder will now be eligible for obtaining the privileged OCI card which grants multiple entry, multi-purpose, lifelong visa for visiting the country, the home ministry said Tuesday.
The home ministry has also simplified the process of renunciation of Indian citizenship, providing relief to Indians who have applied for foreign passports.
In a notification, the ministry said a person, who is a foreign-origin spouse of a citizen of India or of an OCI cardholder, and who fulfil the laid down conditions shall be eligible to apply for registration as OCI cardholder. So far, they were not allowed to apply for this facility.
A registered OCI is granted multiple entry, multi-purpose, lifelong visa for visiting India. He or she is exempted from registration with foreign regional registration officer or foreign registration officer for any length of stay in India, an official said.
The person is entitled to general parity with Non-Resident Indians in respect of all facilities available to them in economic, financial and educational fields except in matters relating to the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
The OCI card scheme was launched during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention 2006 in Hyderabad. The scheme provides for registration as Overseas Citizen of India of all Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who were citizens of India on January 26, 1950 or there after or were eligible to become citizens of India on January 26, 1950 except who is or had been a citizen of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The home ministry has also amended the Citizenship Rules, 2009, related to the declaration of renunciation of citizenship.
A declaration of renunciation of citizenship of India shall be made by a citizen of India in the prescribed form and on receipt of the declaration of renunciation of citizenship of India, the authority concerned will process it, the notification said.
On being satisfied about the correctness of the particulars of the declaration made under the relevant rule, the declaration will be registered by the authority concerned and a certificate of renunciation of Indian citizenship will be issued to the declarant, it said.
Indian tech giants Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys have been sued in the U.S., over wage discrimination and unfair hiring practices, media reports here stated. These cases in US Courts follow an earlier lawsuit filed Aug. 15 against TCS and HCL Technologies, which alleged that the Indian multinational giants unfairly favored Indian Americans in its hiring practices.
A lawsuit against TCS filed in August by three U.S. citizens, who allege that the company prefers to bring in Indian H-1B workers even when there are trained U.S. citizens who could fill the positions. The lawsuit in the District Court of New Jersey alleged that TCS also discriminates when it hires locally, disproportionately favoring Indian Americans and South Asian Americans.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that Surya Kant, TCS’ president for North America, and Narasimhan Srinivasan, vice president and head of human resources, devised and implemented a nationwide ‘leadership directive’ to utilize TCS’s visa-ready South Asian employees to the ‘maximum extent’ when filling U.S. positions.”
Anuj Kapoor, a former employee on a CVS project in Rhode Island, filed the suit against Infosys in June, alleging the company made him work more than 1,000 hours of overtime without pay. The company responded in August, stating that the employee was an ‘hourly’ worker on an H1-B visa even though Infosys had listed him as a salaried employee in an application with the Department of Labor, a potential reason for its Wage and Hour Division to look into the case.
Anuj Kapoor alleged that Infosys threatened to send him back to India if he persisted with his wage claim. Kapoor said in his lawsuit that he worked more than 1,000 hours of overtime for which he was not paid. His attorney Thomas Enright told the Providence Journal that the Bangalore-based company has a pattern of ill-treating H-1B workers and foreign-born employees. “Foreign-born workers will consider themselves lucky to be working in the United States,” Enright said, adding, “It’s difficult to get people in that position to step forward.”
Infosys denied Kapoor’s allegations in its response to the lawsuit, saying it had paid the hourly worker the “complete, correct and proper” wages he was due.
According to the lawsuit, Kapoor worked at CVS for 40 hours a week, five days a week. Infosys, however, would require employees to participate in mandatory conference calls and trainings with team members in India after midnight or in the early-morning hours, the suit says.
Kapoor alleged that two managers instructed him not to submit for overtime on his timecard, despite forcing him to work extra hours. One often remarked that the reason a company such as CVS contracted with Infosys was that no American worker would agree to employment that required them to work overtime without compensation, and that Infosys hoped to replace CVS’s primary software vendor, according to the suit.
In 2013, Infosys agreed to pay $34 million to settle a case with the U.S. Justice Department to end an investigation into the widespread practice by Indian firms of flying workers to client sites in the United States on temporary visas, according to Reuters. Infosys agreed in the settlement that it committed civil violations of U.S. employment law, but was not required to admit and did not admit widespread further wrongdoing, according to the news agency.
Indian IT companies have faced lawsuits from employees before. WiproNSE -0.28 % was sued by an employee for unpaid overtime. However, the current regulatory environment in the US makes lawsuits and complaints raise concerns. “As long as companies have followed the applicable laws and terms of the labor condition application (LCA) for H-1B workers, they will have no problem but would, of course, have to incur expenses to defend the cases in court. Further, even if there is even a slight grey area about the issue then it could be more complicated,” said Poorvi Chothani, managing partner at immigration law firm LawQuest.
The Trump administration on Saturday, September 22nd, has proposed a rule that immigrants who are in the United States legally, as well as those wanting to come to the country, may be denied visas or green cards if they have ever used public assistance.
Current U.S. immigration laws limit those who are likely to be dependent on financial aid. That ruling, known as a “public charge,” began in the 1800s as a way to deny immigrants entry to the United States if they were likely to become a drain on the economy.
The proposed policy, for the first time, also increases the financial levels applicants must meet in order to be eligible for a green card. Currently, sponsors of applicants must show that they meet 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. But the proposed rule could set this income threshold as high as 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, about $52,000 annually for a couple with one child.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the department is welcoming public comment on the proposal.
“This proposed rule will implement a law passed by Congress intended to promote immigrant self-sufficiency and protect finite resources by ensuring that they are not likely to become burdens on American taxpayers,” Nielsen said in a statement.
Manju Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, told the media that the proposed measure would significantly impact the Indian American community. “The rule forces families to choose between a path toward permanent residency and citizenship and the receipt of public benefits. It essentially punishes immigrants seeking to feed their children or seek necessary health care,” said Kulkarni, a veteran immigrant rights advocate.
“This newest iteration of public charge by the Trump administration is cruel and inhumane and follows a long line of policies — in just 18 months — that separate families and vilify immigrants. It’s time that Indian Americans, U.S. citizens and immigrants, stand up with other immigrant communities to fight these unjust and un-American policies,” stated Kulkarni.
Marielena Hincapie of the National Immigration Law Center said how a person contributes to their community, not the contents of their wallet, should be what matters the most.
“This proposed rule does the opposite, and makes clear that the Trump administration continues to prioritize money over family unity by ensuring that only the wealthiest can afford to build a future in this country,” Hincapie said.
Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, said in a press statement: “This Administration chooses to punish immigrant families over and over again. This policy is about who this Administration considers a desirable immigrant. It is designed to instill fear in immigrant communities of color and relegate non-citizens and their families to second-class status,” she stated.
The Migration Policy Institute, which used immigration data culled from the years 2014 to 2016, said India was the top country of origin for legal non-citizens, with about 550,000 currently residing in the U.S. Two-thirds of Indian Americans who received their green cards during that period did so through family-based migration.
The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum noted that the proposed rule would unfairly impact children. “We are concerned that the proposed rule change will have far-reaching consequences and discourage immigrants and their families from participating in public programs such as some forms of Medicaid, Medicare Part D, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and housing assistance, even if they are eligible, by threatening their immigration status if they use such programs,” noted the organization in a press statement. “These changes are meant to punish immigrants whom the Trump Administration believes are not deserving to stay in the United States.”
About 137,000 – 25 percent – had incomes below 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines, and would potentially have been denied green cards if the proposed new guidelines were in place. The proposed rule was expected to be entered into the Federal Register Sept. 24, and will be open for public comment for 60 days.
The announcement from DHS codified the types of benefits that could be considered for denying a visa application under the public charge rule. These include:
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), commonly known as “welfare”
State and local cash assistance, sometimes called “General Assistance”
Medicaid or other programs supporting long-term institutionalized care, such as in a nursing home or mental health institution
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as “Food Stamps”
Section 8 housing and rental assistance
Nonemergency Medicaid benefits (with other exclusions for children and the disabled)
Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors to the US overstay their visas, some of them indefinitely. One out of every 100 visitors from India, and almost two out of every 100 international students from India overstayed their U.S. visa during the 2017 fiscal year, according to a report issued Aug. 9 by the Department of Homeland Security.
The number of “overstays” is almost two times as large. By the end of fiscal 2017, there were about 600,000 people suspected to still be in the US after their permission to stay had expired, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That year, the US Border Patrol apprehended a little more than 310,000 immigrants trying to enter the US.
The visitors and student to the US who overstay their visas are a large chunk of illegal immigration that is seldom mentioned by Donald Trump, who has mostly focused on people who enter the country between ports of entry, not through airports.
India and China had the largest numbers of visitors to the U.S. during the last fiscal year: India had more than one million total, while more than 4.5 million Chinese residents visited or graduated in the U.S.
According to DHS statistics, 1,078,809 visitors from India arrived in the U.S. last year on B1 or B2 visitors’ visas. Of those, 1,708 stayed for a while after their visa expired, but eventually left the U.S.
An estimated 12,498 visitors overstayed and are believed to still reside in the U.S., in undocumented status. India is the fastest-growing home country for undocumented U.S. residents: an estimated 500,000 – one out of every six – Indian nationals currently reside in the U.S. without requisite immigration papers, according to earlier DHS data, and the Migration Policy Institute.
Approximately 127,435 students from India graduated and finished their optional practical training, and were expected to return to the home country. Of those, 1,567 stayed for a while but eventually left, while 2,833 remained in the country, accruing unlawful presence, about 3.5 percent.
DHS identifies individuals as possible overstays if there are no records of a departure or change in status prior to the end of their authorized admission period; such persons are identified as “in country overstays” while those who leave some time after their visa expires are termed “out of country” overstays.
Those who do overstay but eventually leave face a penalty of not being able to return to the U.S., for varying periods of time ranging from three to 10 years. Those who remain in the country and do not leave face possible detention and deportation proceedings.
Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives which gives H-1B workers the flexibility to switch jobs and reduce the Green Card backlog by expanding education-based exemptions from per-country caps for H-1B holders.
According to a PTI report, Krishnamoorthi and Republican lawmaker Mike Coffman, introduced the HR 6794, or the “Immigration Innovation Act of 2018” in the House of Representatives on September 13 and if passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President, the bill would reform and streamline the H-1B high-skilled worker visa program while increasing investment in American Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education for students in K-12, post-secondary or college programs.
According to Krishnamoorthi and Coffman, the bill will: Propose to ban employers from hiring H-1B holders to replace American workers while increasing funding for STEM education at the K-12, post-secondary and university levels.
All fees collected for H-1B visas and conditional Green Cards will go to state-administered funds to promote domestic STEM education and worker training including financial aid and research initiatives, which will expand investments in advanced training for the domestic workforce, ultimately reducing the demand for foreign workers while helping the American economy grow.
Remove the existing annual exemption cap on H-1B visas for holders of American master’s degrees or higher, which is currently exempting 20,000 per year, for individuals who are sponsored for a Green Card while narrowing education-based cap exemption to those with American PhDs.
Creates lottery prioritization for cap-subject petitions in the order of: American master’s degree or higher, foreign PhDs, and the American STEM bachelor’s degrees while establishing a grace period to allow H-1B visa holders to change jobs without losing their legal status to permit mobility under qualifying circumstances.
Subjects employers who have more than five H-1B employees to a penalty for each employee who worked less than 25 percent of the first work-authorization year and prohibits employers from hiring an H-1B visa worker to replace an American worker while also providing work authorization for spouses and dependent children of H-1B visa workers at the prevailing wage.
Proposes to eliminate per-country limit for employment based green cards and adjusts per-country caps for family-based green cards along with enabling the reassignment of unused visas from previous years.
Creates new conditional Green Card category to allow American employers to sponsor university-educated foreign professionals through a separate path from H-1B and requires employers to attest that no American worker has been displaced for the Green Card holder, undertaking recruitment efforts to fill the position with an American worker and offer prevailing wage not less than $100,000 per year.
The bill exempts spouses and children of employment-based green card holders, holders of American STEM master’s degrees or higher and individuals with extraordinary skill in arts and sciences from caps.
The bill also enables F-1 student visa holders to seek permanent resident status while they are still a student or during their Optional Practical Training.
India’s national carrier Air India will start flight services to New York from Mumbai, besides resuming services to Frankfurt, which it discontinued in 2010, from winters this year.
At present, the government-run airline flies to New York, Washington, San Francisco from New Delhi; Chicago from Hyderabad through New Delhi and to Newark from Mumbai.
Among European cities, Air India flies directly to destinations such as Stockholm, Madrid, Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, Birmingham and Milan.
“Air India is set to spread its wings further in the US and European skies from the coming winters. As part of this, it will launch flight services for the first time to New York from Mumbai and restart operations to Frankfurt in Germany,” a source said.
These two new flights are expected to be launched from October, the source added.
When contacted, an Air India spokesperson confirmed the proposed roll out of the two new international flights from winters.
“The two new flights are a part of our winter schedule. We have all regulatory approvals in place for the Frankfurt flight and the same for JFK services are being processed,” the spokesperson said.
The winter schedule of airlines in the country starts from the last Sunday of October and remains in force till the last week of March, after which, the summer schedule comes into effect. Air India is the only domestic carrier which flies to destinations in the US directly.
According to the source, the Mumbai-Frankfurt flight will be four-times-a-week service and be operated by the airline’s flagship jetliner Boeing 787-800, while the Mumbai- New York will be three-times per week service with Boeing 777-300ER.
Following the launch of the two services, Air India will be offering a total of 36 weekly flights to the US cities from New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, the source added.
Currently, it operates nine flights per week to San Francisco, seven times a week to Chicago, Newark and JFK and three weekly services to Washington.
Foreign national students and exchange workers have been given a little breathing room in a new policy memo. It provides a grace period while they apply for reinstatement if they have fallen out of status and overstayed their visa.
The memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarifies that students and exchange visitors who hold F, J and M visas and have violated the terms of their status will not accrue “unlawful presence” while their applications are pending if they file for reinstatement in a timely manner.
The memo amends an earlier policy guidance proposing changes in how the agency calculates unlawful presence for students and exchange visitors. Unlawful presence refers to someone being in the United States without proper authorization and can include instances where the person has remained in the U.S. after their duration of status has expired or entered the country illegally.
As of Aug. 9, when the policy took effect, F, J and M visa holders who violate the terms of their status will be considered unlawfully present the day after the violation occurs. Violations that occurred before Aug. 9 will begin to accrue unlawful presence from that date. Previously, unlawful presence was triggered only when USCIS formally processed a visa overstay or a judge issued a deportation order.
The consequences of unlawful presence are significant, said Justin Storch, manager of agency liaison at the Council for Global Immigration, an affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management.
In May, after USCIS issued the draft proposal, Doug Rand, former assistant director for entrepreneurship in the Obama White House who helped implement policies that affect foreign students, told India-West: “This is a pretty dramatic change that could affect more than 1.5 million people per year.”
“We should be welcoming the best and brightest — if our country loses its luster, we will lose out on this extraordinary competitive advantage,” stated Rand, the co-founder of Boundless, a technology company that helps families navigate the immigration process. “There are ways to deter the relatively small percentage of students who deliberately and unambiguously overstay their visas, however, without creating major uncertainty for the vast majority who are trying in good faith to play by the rules,” said Rand.
The Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on work visas is hitting Indians disproportionately hard. Now, a report from the National Foundation for American Policy has found that in 2017, Indian applicants for H-1B visas were hit by more denials and demands for proof of eligibility to work than applicants from other nations.
Between July and September 2017, the US denied H-1B visas to 23.6% of Indian applicants, up from 16.6% in the three preceding months, according to the latest data released by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to public policy research.
The H-1B visa is normally given to highly skilled workers is specialized jobs and is usually obtained by employers however; it has now become an immigration debate in the Trump era, claiming that they are taking jobs away from Americans.
Many Silicon Valley technology companies have lobbied for an expansion of the annual 85,000 cap on new visas, arguing that companies need to be able to bring in the world’s top talent, according to the Mercury News. After obtaining an H-1B visa, one can apply for a green card but due to extensive backlog they tend to extend their visas instead.
Stellar Software Network, a staffing and outsourcing company has filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration illegally denied Kartik Krishnamurthy, an Indian man, his H-1B visa.
According to a Mercury News report, the denial comes in wake of the U.S. crackdown on the H-1B visa and called the denial of Krishnamurthy’s visa “arbitrary and capricious.” Krishnamurthy worked at Stellar on the H-1B visa for about seven years until the end of May, according to the lawsuit.
The issue started in August 2017 when a request for Krishnamurthy’s visa extension was put in and was denied due to the H-1B crackdown that arose from President Donald Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” executive order.
Also, applications for Indian workers were more frequently subjected to the “requests for evidence,” according to the report by the National Foundation for American Policy.
Workers from India, comprising by far the largest number of H-1B workers in the U.S., have been impacted adversely by the “Buy American, Hire American” executive order signed in April 2017 by President Donald Trump.
The NFAP study noted that in the fourth quarter of 2017 alone as many as 14,932 applicants from India were denied visas,out of a total of 20,514 applicants. The report, published in July, said that H-1B denials and Requests for Evidence (RFEs) increased significantly in the fourth quarter and that trends most likely will continue in 2018. The report is based on data obtained from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
“The increase in denials and RFEs of even the most highly-skilled applicants seeking permission to work in America indicates the Trump administration is interested in less immigration, not ‘merit-based’ immigration,” the report said.
Between 2001 and 2015, an estimated 1.8 million H-1B visas were reportedly awarded to skilled foreign workers. Half went to Indians followed by workers from China. China, however, accounted for 9.4 percent of total H-1B visa applications in the 2017 fiscal year compared to India’s 76 percent, according to a TechCrunch.com report.
The NFAP report said that the Trump administration has implemented no policies to facilitate the hiring of high-skilled foreign nationals. “Instead, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has enacted a series of policies to make it more difficult for even the most highly-educated scientists and engineers to work in the United States.”
The climate of increasing restrictions grew forH-1B visa holders and their spouses, who had been allowed by the Obama administration to work in the U.S. legally. India’s major IT outsourcing companies started changing their business models in the U.S. by relying less on H1-B visa holders and building up their domestic workforces in the United States.
That changed business model partly explains why five of the seven top Indian-based companies saw declines in FY 2017 from FY 2016, including Infosys, Wipro and HCL America.
Only TCS, with an increase of 13 percent, and Tech Mahindra, which increased by 42 percent, had more H-1B petitions for initial employment approved in FY 2017 than the previous fiscal year, an earlier NFAP report said.
The report published in April noted that the top seven Indian-based companies received only 8,468 approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2017, a decline of 43 percent for these companies since FY 2015.
An earlier NFAP report said, “H-1B temporary visas are important as they are typically the only practical way a high-skilled foreign national working abroad or an international student educated in the United States can work long-term in America.”
The Trump administration’s “inconsistent” immigration policies, including on the H1-B visa for professionals, could “disrupt” operations of American firms and inflict “substantial harm” on their competitiveness, CEOs from top US companies have warned.
In a letter to US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, members of the Business Roundtable, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, President and CEO of Mastercard Ajay Banga and Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins said that confusion around US immigration policy “creates anxiety for employees who follow the law.”
The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies, told Nielsen yesterday that “inconsistent government action and uncertainty undermines economic growth and American competitiveness.”
Due to a shortage of green cards for workers, many employees find themselves stuck in an immigration process lasting more than a decade, they said.
To avoid unnecessary costs and complications for American businesses, the US government should not change the rules in the middle of the process, the CEOs said, pointing out to the several policy memoranda over the past year by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued that has resulted in “arbitrary and inconsistent adjudications”.
“Companies now do not know whether a work visa petition that was approved last month will be approved when the company submits the identical application to extend the employee’s status,” they said.
In particular, the CEOs said they are worried about changes to the review process for H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, expected changes to the rules for spouses of H-1B employees and planned changes to certain deportation rules.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Employees who qualify for H-1B jobs often hold degrees in science, tech, engineering or math, and are highly sought after by employers, the CEOs said.
The Roundtable members said that a confusing immigration system in the US which threatens to split their families apart, could encourage them to seek employment in a different country. That would put the American economy at a disadvantage.
They also noted that in many cases, the US Labor Department has determined that “no qualified US workers are available to do that person’s job.”
President Donald Trump has said that some IT companies were abusing the US work visas to deny jobs to American workers.
“As the federal government undertakes its legitimate review of immigration rules, it must avoid making changes that disrupt the lives of thousands of law-abiding and skilled employees, and that inflict substantial harm on US competitiveness,” the CEOs noted.
The Business Roundtable will continue to work with Congress to reduce the Green Card backlog, they said.
In the interim, inconsistent immigration policies are unfair and discourage talented and highly skilled individuals from pursuing career opportunities in the United States, they said.
The reality is that few will move their family and settle in a new country if, at any time and without notice, the government can force their immediate departure–often without explanation.
“At a time when the number of job vacancies are reaching historic highs due to labour shortages, now is not the time restrict access to talent,” the CEOs said.
The group has called for increasing the number of H-1B visas and letting people with advanced STEM degrees from American universities qualify for a green card immediately.
Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement the “administration has been relentlessly pursuing necessary immigration reforms that move towards a merit-based system.”
“USCIS is committed to reforming employment based immigrant and non-immigrant immigration programs so they benefit the American people to the greatest extent possible,” CNN quoted spokesperson Michael Bars as saying.
After considering the feedback received during a 30-day public comment period that ended on June 11, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has published a revised final policy memorandum related to unlawful presence in the country.
Under the revised final policy memorandum, effective Aug. 9, 2018, immigrants on the student (F visa), exchange visitor (J visa) or vocational student (M visa), who have overstayed their visas will have their accrual of unlawful presence suspended while their application is pending, according to a press release.
On May 10, USCIS posted a policy memorandum changing the way the agency calculates unlawful presence for those who were in non-immigrant status as the revised final memorandum supersedes the previous one and describes the rules for counting the unlawful presence of immigrants on F and M visas with timely-filed or approved reinstatement applications, as well as for immigrants on J visas who were reinstated by the Department of State.
“As a result of public engagement and stakeholder feedback, USCIS has adjusted the unlawful presence policy to address a concern raised in the public’s comments, ultimately improving how we implement the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility as a whole and reducing the number of overstays in these visa categories,” Director L. Francis Cissna, is quoted saying in a press release.
“USCIS remains dedicated to protecting the integrity of our nation’s immigration system and ensuring the faithful execution of our laws. People who overstay or violate the terms of their visas should not remain in the United States. Foreign students who are no longer properly enrolled in school are violating the terms of their student visa and should be held accountable,” he added.
Also, on Aug. 7, the Department of Homeland Security announced the release of the FY 2017 Entry/Exit Overstay Report in which the estimated total overstay rates were lower in FY 2017 for immigrants on the F and J visas, however, those categories still have significantly higher overstay rates than other visa categories.
For purposes of counting unlawful presence, a timely reinstatement application for F or M status is one where the student has not been out of status for more than five months at the time of filing.
Under the revised final policy memorandum, the accrual of unlawful presence is suspended when the F or M non-immigrant files a reinstatement application within the five month window and while the application is pending with USCIS.
If the reinstatement application is denied, the accrual of unlawful presence resumes on the day after the denial.
It is incumbent on the non-immigrant to voluntarily leave the United States to avoid accruing more unlawful presence that could result in later inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and whether or not the application for reinstatement is timely-filed, an F, J, or M non-immigrant whose application for reinstatement is ultimately approved will generally not accrue unlawful presence while out of status.
The Department of State administers the J-1 exchange visitor program, to include reinstatement requests and if they approve the reinstatement application of a J non-immigrant, then the individual will generally not accrue unlawful presence from the time the J non-immigrant fell out of status from the time he or she was reinstated.
In addition, the revised final policy memorandum corrects references to the Board of Immigration Appeals issuing orders of removal in the first instance.
A policy memo issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services subjects H-1B workers and their dependents to deportation proceedings if they fall out of status while their application for renewal is being processed.
USCIS issued the memo — ‘Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens’ — on June 28. A month later, the agency postponed the implementation of the directive, stating that operational guidance was pending; therefore, the directive would be implemented once operational guidance was issued.
A second memo, issued July 13 by USCIS, states that the agency can outright issue a ‘Notice of Intent to Deny’ a petition or renewal without first issuing a Request for Evidence, per the current norm. That policy is slated to take effect this year on Sept. 11. The second memo — ‘Issuance of Certain RFEs and NOIDs; Revisions to Adjudicator’s Field Manual’ — clarifies a 2013 policy memo and states that a NOID can be issued without a request for evidence if the adjudicator determines there is little evidence to support the initial application.
Newark, Calif., immigration attorney Kalpana Peddibhotla told India-West it was unclear how the July 13 memo would be interpreted and implemented, and suggested that the effect of the two memos was an intentional strategy by the Trump administration to create a climate of fear.
“There is a chilling effect which may or may not be intentional, or for that matter warranted, with the release of these immigration memos,” said the Indian American lawyer.
In a July 13 press statement announcing the second memo, USCIS director L. Francis Cissna said: “For too long, our immigration system has been bogged down with frivolous or meritless claims that slow down processing for everyone, including legitimate petitioners. Through this long overdue policy change, USCIS is restoring full discretion to our immigration officers to deny incomplete and ineligible applications and petitions submitted for immigration benefits.”
“Doing so will discourage frivolous filings and skeletal applications used to game the system, ensure our resources are not wasted, and ultimately improve our agency’s ability to efficiently and fairly adjudicate requests for immigration benefits in full accordance with our laws,” said Cissna.
The July 13 directive is applicable to all immigration-related petitions, except the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was terminated last year but has been kept alive with injunctions issued by district courts in San Francisco and New York.
Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, told India-West that a dramatic increase in the number of Requests for Evidence for H-1B renewals has led to longer waits for application processing, leading to a larger number of highly-skilled foreign workers and their H-4 dependents who could lose their immigration status.
Anderson noted that USCIS has received a lot of push-back since the June 28 directive was issued; the agency may decide to add a grace period, he said.
Anderson noted that the Trump administration could not terminate the H-1B visa program outright — only Congress can do so — but could, in a back-handed manner, reduce the number of people eligible for the program, and, moreover, discourage highly-skilled foreign workers from applying.
“H-1B workers represent a very low number of employees relative to the overall workforce,” said Anderson, noting that the program only allows 85,000 applications to be accepted per year into a labor pool of more than 160 million employees.
He emphasized that a cap of 85,000 H-1B visas issued per year was far too low, and added that increasing the cap would allow American corporations to create jobs and invest in the U.S. rather than abroad.
NFAP released a report July 25 highlighting the dramatic increase in denials of H-1B applications. The proportion of H-1B petitions denied for foreign-born professionals increased by 41 percent from the 3rd to the 4th quarter of FY 2017, rising from a denial rate of almost 16 percent in the 3rd quarter to 22.4 percent in the 4th quarter.
The report also highlighted the dramatic increase in Requests For Evidence: the RFE rate was approximately 69 percent in the 4th quarter compared to 23 percent in the 3rd quarter of FY 2017.
Talk about one industry that’s growing by leaps and bounds in India, aviation gives a tough beating to most others. The market is expected to cater to 478 million passengers by 2036. * And India seen as the third largest aviation market by 2025. According to global airlines’ body IATA, India has been successfully winning the crown for being the world’s fastest growing domestic aviation market for the three straight years till 2017. **
An important factor behind this burgeon is government schemes like UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) and NABH Nirman. While the first aims to connect 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads across the country, the latter targets to expand airport capacity by more than five times to handle a billion trips in a year.
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More than 100 people attended the Hindu American Foundation (HAF)’s third annual policy conference this past Monday, June 18 in our nation’s capital. Taking place in the Rayburn House Office Building in the U.S. House of Representatives, the event focused on key policy concerns for Hindu Americans, including U.S.-India relations, immigration policy, and gun safety reform.
Keynoting the event was Nisha Desai Biswal, President of the US-India Business Council. Biswal, who was honored in 2015 by HAF for her previous work in the State Department, spoke to the growing realization in America of the immense opportunity that India represents.
“Businesses are seeing India as a primary focus for investment,” Biswal went on to say. That indeed there would be points of friction between the US and India on trade, “but I would not see them as a point of alarm, but as a point of opportunity,” she concluded.
Biswal’s keynote was followed by a lively and frank panel discussion on the need for immigration policy reforms to the way in which green cards are allotted and the challenges facing spouses of immigrants working in the United States under the H-1B high skilled worker visa program. The panel was moderated by HAF Managing Director Samir Kalra, Esq. and featured immigration advocate Padma Katapalli of GC Reforms, immigration lawyer Akanksha Kalra, Esq., and HAF National Leadership Council member Swami Venkataraman, who spoke about his own experience navigating the US immigration system.
Issues highlighted by the panelists included: the increasingly long time it takes to obtain a green card due to arbitrary per-country caps on the number of green cards given annually; the precarious nature of employment for H-1B visa holders, and their spouses, waiting for green cards; and how the current trends in US immigration policy are driving away tourists, students, and potentially high skilled workers and the business that hire them.
Akanksha Kalra described these latter changes as already building an “invisible wall” against future immigration.
The afternoon began with an emotional and poignant conversation between HAF Executive Director, Suhag Shukla, Esq. and Ms. Shanthi Viswanathan, a teacher from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida whose quick thinking and bravery is credited with saving the lives of her 27 students during the shooting there this past February.
After detailing the horrifying sequence of events of the tragic day when a teen gunman killed 17 people and wounded 17 more at the school, Ms. Viswanathan made a passionate plea for more effective regulations of firearms, as well as giving her frank opinions on what needs to be done to make our schools safer places.
“I understand the Second Amendment, hunting rifles, shotguns, but an assault rifle? What is the need for that?” she asked the audience rhetorically.
Viswanathan said she’s asked this question of ardent gun rights supporters. The answer she’s told is that they need these weapons for ‘freedom’’. But, “how does holding an assault rifle give you a sense of freedom?” she wondered. “I wouldn’t know how to explain ahimsa (non-violence) to them,” Viswanathan noted. “You don’t have to have that gun. Life is still good without it.”
The day concluded with a brief clip of the film “From India With Love”, directed by Mandar Apte. The film documents the journey to India, by a group of former gang members, racial justice activists, and other survivors of violence, who follow in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King’s trip to India nearly 60 years ago to explore the homeland of Mahatma Gandhi. The group becomes transformed by the spiritual and cultural journey, by their time together, and by the discussions and meditation experienced on the trip.
After the film, Apte, the 2018 winner of HAF’s Advancement of Dharmic Arts and Humanities Award, spoke of his work promoting the Hindu concept of ahimsa (non-violence) as a way to mediate conflict to major police departments across the country, foremost of these being the Los Angeles Police Department.
The backlog of pending applications for immigrants legally in the country trying to become U.S. citizens has “skyrocketed” under President Donald Trump, according to a new report from an immigrant rights organization.
“The Trump admin has built a second wall that prevents legal immigrants in the U.S. from becoming voting U.S. citizens,” Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the partnership, told NBC News.
He said the backlog at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services means processing rates have reached as high as 20 months, raising concerns in a critical mid-term election year that some people will be unable to vote. Last year, over 925,000 people applied for U.S. citizenship, according to the report.
“They may be waiting for as much of 20 months after submitting a 21-page application, paid the $730 fee, submitted their fingerprints for a security a check and then sat and waited to take an exam,” he said.
As of Dec. 31, 2015, under Obama, the backlog was 388,832, according to the report. “This is either absolute gross incompetence affecting close to a million legal immigrants who want to become U.S. citizens, or it is an intentional second wall that is designed to slow the pace at which lawfully present immigrants can become voters,” he said.
The report also found that certain states saw “enormous spikes” in denials of citizenship applications in the last quarter, noting changes in Alabama, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Utah.
From Oct. 1, 2017, to the end of last December, the backlog increased in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and several 19 states, including Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, according to the report.
The states with the largest increase in pending applications over the last fiscal year included Utah with an increase of more than 53 percent, Texas with an increase of over 50 percent and Washington with over 46 percent, according to the report.
A United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesman strongly contested the reports findings Monday afternoon. “The truth is that the total number of people the U.S. naturalizes each year has remained virtually unchanged. What we’re looking at is a dishonest and desperate attempt by open borders advocates to undermine the work of Homeland Security officials, law enforcement and the administration to protect the integrity of our immigration system and uphold the rule of law,” said spokesman Michael Bars in a statement. “The current pending workload does not equate to a backlog — it’s a statistic used in the USCIS report to include every application for naturalization filed including those filed in recent days and weeks — and is being inaccurately portrayed as evidence of delays”
“Many of these cases, which can remain pending from one quarter to the next, are well within the processing time goal established by the agency with variances being a direct result of geography and capacity. USCIS will continue to process all applications and petitions in a judicious and comprehensive manner and will do so as efficiently and expeditiously as possible in accordance with the law,” he added. “We reject the inaccurate claims of those fundamentally opposed to this effort.”
The agency naturalizes approximately 700,00 to 750,000 as citizens a year, according to USCIS, and naturalized 716,000 people in fiscal year 2017.
The partnership announced the report’s findings later Monday at a news teleconference with Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., and other immigrant rights groups.
The members of Congress also sent a congressional sign-on letter asking the director of USCIS to explain the backlogs and would call for congressional hearings and legal action to address the backlog, The backlog was denying potential citizens the right to vote, and also left some at risk for potential deportation under Trump’s policies while their applications are pending, said Gutiérrez.
“The rules have changed — legal permanent residency does not protect you from deportation under Donald Trump,” he said. “People want to participate in the democratic process, they also want to protect themselves.”
Angelica Salas, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), said, “More and more every day you have a situation in which legal permanent residents, even for minor violations decades old, are being visited by ICE.”
Salas said during the teleconference that their naturalization campaign for 2018 was looking towards the 2020 elections to support legal residents seeking the right to vote, despite the “insurmountable hurdles they face.”
“If you want to vote in November of 2020, you’ve basically got to apply in the next 60 to 90 days. That is something unconscionable,” he said during the teleconference.
Hoyt said the advocates were also working with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, for a mayoral sign-on letter. Sign-on letters are used by lawmakers to come together and express a view on a policy or political matter. He added that the group was planning to file a Freedom of Information Act request looking for internal communications and numbers regarding the backlog.
President Donald Trump, under mounting political pressure from angry members of his own party, signed an executive order Wednesday reversing his administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border and allowing families to instead be detained together. “It’s about keeping families together while ensuring we have a powerful border,” Trump said.
It was a dramatic turnaround for Trump, who has been insisting, wrongly, that his administration had no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of federal law and a court decision. The news in recent days has been dominated by searing images of children held in cages at border facilities, as well as audio recordings of young children crying for their parents — images that have sparked fury, question of morality and concern from Republicans about a negative impact on their races in November’s midterm elections.
Until June 20, the president, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other officials had repeatedly argued the only way to end the practice was for Congress to pass new legislation, while Democrats said he could do it with his signature alone. That’s what he did. “We’re going to have strong, very strong borders, but we’re going to keep the families together,” said Trump, who said he didn’t like the “sight” or “feeling” of children separated from their parents.
He said his order would not end the “zero-tolerance” policy that criminally prosecutes all adults caught crossing the border illegally. The order aims to keep families together while they are in custody, expedite their cases, and ask the Department of Defense to help house families.
Justice Department lawyers had been working to find a legal workaround for a previous class-action settlement that set policies for the treatment and release of unaccompanied children who are caught at the border. Still, Trump’s order is likely to create a new set of problems involving length of detention of families, and may spark a fresh court fight.
The Hindu American Foundation, in response to Trump’s earlier actions, called them “unconscionable.” In a statement issued June 19, HAF said: “As immigrants or children of immigrants, as parents, as Hindus, we can find no legal, moral, or ethical justification for such actions.”
HAF’s Indian American executive director Suhag Shukla added: “Hindus place great importance on the family. Whether attempting to enter the United States to seek asylum, fleeing violence in their home country, or seeking better economic opportunities, separating children from their parents is abhorrent. Treating young, vulnerable children in such a degraded way is beyond not only Hindu values, but American values.”
Penguin behavior
