Kansan Kevin Yoder says 700,000 high skilled Indians stuck on H-1B visa due to the arbitrary cap.
Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas, has appealed to the US House of Representatives for the removal of the country-specific quota for permanent residency in the United States.
Speaking on the House floor earlier this week, the congressmen asked his colleague to reform the US immigration system by passing a bill that he sponsored, Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017.
Yoder pointed out that over 700,000 Indians with high level of working skills are stuck on H-1B visa due to the arbitrary cap on Green Cards.
“More than 700,000 high-skilled immigrant workers from India are in the US today on temporary work visas. These people are working hard every day helping grow our economy, raising their children as Americans right here in our communities,” Yoder said.
“But under our immigration system they are stuck on a cycle of temporary work visas, unable to change jobs or even start their own small business to create more American jobs. They’re stuck because of the arbitrary seven per nation cap on employment-based green cards,” the Republican lawmaker said.
“Right now, there’s a mother in Greenland whose unborn child will be able to obtain permanent residence in America before someone from India who is already here and have been working here for years. That’s absurd and it’s wrong,” he said.
The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 proposes to “eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants” and “increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas.”
The bipartisan bill, introduced on January 10, has 236 cosponsors.
Originally introduced by Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Yoder requested to be made the first sponsor of the bill on July 11.
“It would transition us to a first-come-first-serve merit-based legal immigration system. It would help these people in need and it would help create new jobs,” Yoder said on the House floor.
At the moment, an Indian technology professional seeking green card under employment category, on an average, has to wait more than 12 years for the approval of petition.
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