Sundar Pichai issues first response as Trump suspends H-1B visas; reveals Google's stand

Indian-origin Google CEO Sundar Pichai has criticized the US government's order to temporarily suspend a number of visas -  H-1B, H-2B, H-4, H-L, and some H-J visas till December 31 with the aim of ensuring that firms hire American citizens. Pichai, an immigrant himself, said that immigrants have contributed greatly to USA's success and that he was disappointed by President Trump's order.

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Pichai disappointed by Trump's immigrant order

In a tweet hours after the order was signed, Pichai said that America has been a global leader in technology and has contributed greatly to America's success, including Google. He added that the firm will stand by immigrants and will focus on providing opportunities to all. Pichai, a graduate of IIT Kharagpur was born in Chennai and moved to USA in 1993 to study, after which he joined the tech firm where he progressed to be the CEO. 

Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk also expressed his disapproval with the order, saying that the visas suspended cover skill sets that are net job creators and that it's 'too broad'. Musk, also an immigrant, was born in South Africa and moved to Canada at 17 before finally moving to the USA in 1992 for studies. He then founded multiple companies such as Zip2, PayPal,  Tesla and Space X.

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The order will keep out nonagricultural seasonal workers, individuals for cultural exchanges and managers, and other key employees of multinational corporations. The White House document on this order cites surveys which reflect that majority of Americans "see mass immigration as a threat as we confront the challenges posed by the coronavirus," and also remarked how Democrats such Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and this year's Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders 'supported immigrants'. 

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In the administration of our Nation’s immigration system, we must remain mindful of the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in the current extraordinary environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor,” Trump wrote in his presidential proclamation.

These new guidelines will be effective from June 24 and will stretch will December 31, 2020. 

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