In April 2020, amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, US President Donald Trump had enforced a pause on the issuing of new green cards. As the virus continued to wreck havoc, in June, Trump announced an 'extension and expansion' of the restrictions. Under this, the ban on US employment permits has been prolonged the end of the year, and now includes the coveted H1-B visas, along with other types of foreign work visas.
The H1-B visa is popular among those in the tech Industry, and there are many Indians who use it to work in America. The announcement has come as a huge blow for many, and there have even been reports of people who have been stranded away from their family members after returning to India for what had been intended to be a brief stay.
For some time now, the US has ranked as the country worst hit by COVID-19. As per the tracker maintained by the Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 2.68 million positive cases and over 128,000 people have died. Against this backdrop, the US presidential elections are fast approaching in November.
On Thursday, US Presidential hopeful, Joe Biden said that if elected, he would revoke the suspension. "He (US President Donald Trump) just ended H-1B visas the rest of this year. That will not be in my administration," Biden, had said.
"The people on the company visa have built this country," Biden said when asked what his administration will do in the first 100 days of his presidency.
Later, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to hail the news, reiterating that the ban should be revoked.
"America has benefited enormously by embracing India’s vast talent pool through its H-1B program. Its suspension will impact millions of Indians and US firms, Gandhi noted.
(With inputs from agencies)
