United States Senators urge Trump to temporarily suspend H-1B visas and other guest worker visas

“As you know, more than 33 million Americans have applied for unemployment coverage since mid-March, and about a fifth of the US workforce is currently out of work. This is a surprising difference compared to the historically low national unemployment rate of just 3.5 percent in February this year, “they said in their letter to the president.

The letter, dated May 7, specifically calls for the suspension of all nonimmigrant guest worker visas for the next 60 days, followed by a continuous suspension of certain categories of new nonimmigrant guest worker visas for one year or until national unemployment figures return to normal levels

“To protect unemployed Americans in the early stages of the economic recovery, we urge them to suspend all nonimmigrant guest worker visas for the next 60 days,” the senators said.

Exceptions to this suspension should be rare, limited to time-sensitive industries like agriculture, and issued only on a case-by-case basis, when employers can demonstrate that they have been unable to find Americans to take the jobs, the senators wrote. .

After 60 days, senators urged Trump to continue to suspend new non-immigrant guest workers for a year or until national unemployment figures return to normal levels, whichever comes first.

“That suspension must, at a minimum, include H-2B visas (temporary non-farm workers), H-1B visas (specialized occupation workers) and the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program (extension of foreign student visas after We also urge you to suspend the EB-5 immigrant visa program, effective immediately, “lawmakers wrote.

The H-1B work visa for foreign tech professionals is very popular with Indians and a large number of Indians also opt for the EB-5 investor visa.

Senators argued that there is no reason why unemployed Americans and recent college graduates have to compete in such a limited job market against an influx of additional H-1B workers, most of whom work in business, technology, or fields. STEM.

“Temporary suspension of the issuance of new H-1B visas would also protect the hundreds of thousands of H-1B workers and their families already working in the United States, workers who could otherwise be deported if they are fired for more than 60 days, “they said.

“Of course, appropriate exceptions to the H-1B program suspension could also be designed to allow doctors, nurses, and other health professionals who wish to come to the United States to help combat the coronavirus pandemic,” the senators wrote. .

Additionally, the United States should suspend its Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows foreign students in the country to extend their stay after graduation from one to three years to gain “field experience” by taking jobs here, they wrote.

In 2019, more than 223,000 former foreign students had their OPT applications approved or extended. While the merits of such a program are up for debate, there’s certainly no reason to allow foreign students to stay for an additional three years just to take jobs that would otherwise go to unemployed Americans as the country’s economy recovers. lawmakers said.

Senators also urged Trump to remove the EB-5 visa from the exemptions in his Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, at least until actual reforms are adopted.

The EB-5 program has been plagued by scandals and fraud for a long time, and in many cases has been criticized for its effectiveness as a citizenship payment scheme. There is no reason for the program to receive preferential treatment over other employment-based immigrant green card programs, lawmakers said.