Published 08:36 IST, June 23rd 2020
President Trump signs order suspending H-1B, H-2B visas to protect American jobs
The ban will put many American and Indian technology firms at a disadvantage and will also keep out nonagricultural seasonal workers. It's in effect till Dec 3
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US President Donald Trump's administration, on Monday, signed an executive order to suspend a number of visas - H-1B, H-2B, certain H-4, H-L, and some H-J visas to preserve jobs for American citizens. The White House said it will now ensure that businesses will look at American citizens while hiring employees.
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Trump signs executive order
The ban will put many American and Indian technology firms at a disadvantage and will also keep out nonagricultural seasonal workers, individuals for cultural exchanges and managers, and other key employees of multinational corporations. In April, President Trump had announced a 60-day ban on green cards which ended on Monday. The order, however, exempts food processing workers and healthcare workers from helping in the fight against coronavirus.
"We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens," the White House quoted President Trump as saying.
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The move comes with less than 135 days to go before the US Presidential elections, wherein President Trump is hoping to be re-elected and serve for another four years in the White House. President Trump has repeatedly, during his Presidency stated that he wanted 'America First' and hoped to bring back all the jobs which are being outsourced to citizens of countries across the world. 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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Last week, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration's plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, ensuring protection for young immigrants. The program provides relief from deportation to immigrant youth who entered the US illegally when they were children. DACA not only protects immigrants from deportation but also gives them a two-year work permit and allows to be renewed. Reports state that most of those covered under DACA are young Hispanic adults born in Mexico and other Latin American countries, fleeing from the native countries due to violent coups and wars.
06:42 IST, June 23rd 2020