![Hope Joe Biden Removes Green Card Limit: Indian-American Lawmakers Hope Joe Biden Removes Green Card Limit: Indian-American Lawmakers](https://c.ndtvimg.com/us-green-card-_625x300_1530695953657.jpg)
The delay for an Indian citizen to obtain the Green Card is more than 195 years.
Washington:
Distraught over the fact that Indian professionals on H-1B visas will have to wait decades to get their Green Card, Indian-origin lawmakers have expressed hope that a Biden administration will come to their rescue by removing the country’s boundary. to permanent legal residence.
A Green Card, officially known as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants in the United States as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of permanent residence. Allows a non-US citizen to live and work permanently in the United States.
IT professionals from India, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the U.S. Mainly on H-1B work visas, suffer the most from the current immigration system, which imposes a seven quota. percent per country in the allocation of the coveted Green Card or legal permanent residence.
One of the original co-sponsors of the Highly Skilled Immigrant Equity Act, Illinois Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said Saturday that removing the country cap on employment-based green cards would eliminate green card backlog for IT professionals. Indians, who are being brought here often to fill the shortage in the IT industry.
“I am hopeful that under the Joe Biden administration, we can finally pass this legislation in the Senate and then enact it and, of course, as part of a comprehensive immigration reform package as a whole.” Krishnamoorthi said during a virtual roundtable with three other lawmakers of Indian origin, Dr. Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna, at the day-long IMPACT Summit.
The debate was moderated by former US Ambassador to India Rich Verma.
Congresswoman Jayapal, who is vice chair of the House of Representatives subcommittee on immigration, said they have been working on a number of immigration-related issues, including making sure spouses of H-1B workers are able to work in the US. USA
It includes targeting undocumented workers, some of whom are Indian. Referring to a recent report, he said that 6.5 percent of American Indians live below the poverty line.
Probably for the first time, the four Indian-origin lawmakers, popular as the Samosa Caucus, had a virtual panel in which Congressman Khanna said that he truly believes that the Indian-American community can “be decisive” in the changing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan. and the United States. Wisconsin.
The community’s focus, she said, is to work for Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, whose victory would be historic as it would bring Indian-American Kamala Harris as vice president.
“This is really a great time for the community,” Khanna said.
In his remarks, Bera, the top Indian-origin congressman, said that the US-India relationship and the QUAD relationship are very important in the Asia-Pacific region.
Expressing serious concerns about the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bera said the United States needs to return to the global stage of working with like-minded allies.
Khanna said the immigration community has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, including hotel and motel owners and small businesses. He, Jayapal and other lawmakers are working to deliver aid packages to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Every week, there are a million new jobless claims, Jayapal said, adding that the government should intervene quickly. Hotels, motels and small businesses are collapsing, Krishnamoorthi said.
According to Bera, the pandemic has had a major impact on health, including mental health, throughout the American community. But it is also very prevalent in the South Asian American Indian community, he added.
The delay for an Indian citizen to obtain permanent residence or a Green Card is more than 195 years, Republican Senator Mike Lee said in July, urging his Senate colleagues to come up with a legislative resolution to address this problem.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, a Republican, is seeking another term in the White House. He is being challenged by former Vice President Biden of the Democratic Party in the November 3 presidential election.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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