“We are moving closer to the ‘khalifa system’ in the Middle East where workers are brought only to work, but not become residents,” says Bhatt, author of “High-Tech Housewives.”
Amy Bhatt’s High-Tech Housewives: Indian IT Workers, Gendered Labor, and Transmigration (University of Washington Press, 2018), which highlights the plight of H-4 visa holders, was released last summer. The book explores how ideas about gender and the family are transformed and reinforced through migration, using the case of H-1B and H-4 visa holders.
During the research for her book, Bhatt, an Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, followed the lives of Indian H-1B and H-4 visa holders over the course of 10 years. While the H-1B visa program has been successful in recruiting global talent, because it allows the entire family to come to the United States, Bhatt found out that its luster is diminishing because of increasing anti-immigrant sentiments in this country and long wait times for green card. Some families decide to go back to India while others are looking to move to countries such as Canada where spouses would not have to wait for long to start working.
Bhatt is also the co-author of Roots and Reflections: South Asians in the Pacific Northwest (University of Washington Press, 2013). Recently, she spoke to the American Bazaar about the human cost and impact of high skilled immigration and why everyone should comment against the H-4 visa rule change.
What is the latest on H-4 visa rule change? What is it that thousands of those who may be affected by the ruling need to know now?
Almost immediately after they took office, the Trump administration made it clear that they intend to rescind employment authorization for H-4 visa holders. Even though the right to work is limited to a small segment of H-4 visa holders–those who have already had their permanent residency petitions approved, but have not yet received it — this rule has become a target for their overall anti-immigration agenda. In the fall of 2018, the government had signaled that it planned to revoke the Obama-era rule and open a 30 or 60 day period of public comment in early 2019. However, the current government shut-down has stalled those plans. We are now in a period of “wait-and-see” to see when they will officially move forward.
If the rule is revoked, those H-4 visa holders who have already received their employment authorization document (EAD) could lose their ability to work in the U.S. That’s why it is important that people who care about immigration take a moment to comment against the rule change.
The proposed revoking of H-4 visa has led to thousands of Indian immigrants leading uncertain lives in the United States. In the current scenario, more than ever before, why do you think Indians must speak up and take action and how
More and more Indians are living in limbo as they wait for some sort of immigration relief. The incredibly long wait times for green cards in employment based categories for Indian nationals has created a nightmare scenario. People who have been living and working in the U.S. may never have the chance to fully become part of American society. In some ways, we are moving closer to the “khalifa system” in the Middle East where workers are brought in to only to work, but not become residents or citizens.
I think it’s more important than ever that Indian immigrants speak up to stop this turn in immigration policy. This move against the H-4 is just the first step in limiting skilled immigration and is linked to other efforts to curb family based immigration. While the current administration can’t easily stop the H-1B program, it can make life uncomfortable enough for families that they will choose to “self-deport” or even make the decision to not come to the U.S. at all.
For now, there are a few courses of action. First it to make sure that people spread the word about the rule change and to take a minute to make a comment once the period is opened. You can do this by visiting the Federal Register’s website and filling out an online form. Next is to support legislative solutions, such as The Reuniting Families Act, which will be re-introduced in the new Congress. This bill will work to reunite and keep families together, clear family based backlogs, but most importantly, eliminate the country caps for both employment and family-based visas. The solutions proposed in this bill are particularly important in a moment when all immigrants are coming under attack from the Trump administration.
Can the H-4 Employment Protection Act be seen as a hope for hundreds of thousands of work-force on H4 visa.
The H-4 Employment Act would create legislative protection for H-4 visa holders’ ability to work. It would certainly be welcome relief for those who are waiting for their green cards and give them the chance to work in the U.S. It is a very simple stop-gap that would help ease the lives of H-1B workers families as they wait for a more sustainable solution to the overall green card backlog.
Many activists have said that targeting H-4 EAD work force is actually like getting after the lowest lying fruit. In the atmosphere of ant-immigrant rhetoric, what are some of the future ramifications it can have?
Absolutely. It is low-hanging fruit, especially since there are only about 100,000 H-4 spouses who have received work authorization since 2015. Another reason the EAD is an easy target is because the majority of these H-4 spouses are women, who are assumed to be secondary income earners anyway. Many assume that they don’t need to work because they have husbands who will support them.
It’s important to remember though that the EAD doesn’t mean that they are given jobs–they just have the right to legally apply for work. H-4 spouses still have to go through the same job process and prove their credentials as anyone else. If anything, being on the H-4 is still a disadvantage because some employers are unwilling to take the risk on hiring someone who could lose their ability to work. More than that, it is important to remember that H-4 visa holders can only be in the country if their H-1B holding spouse has a visa in good standing. If something happens to the H-1B visa holder or if he loses his job, H-4 visa holders are also in trouble. We are seeing more denials of H-1B extensions without evidence, which puts the entire family at risk.
As an expert viewing the case closely, what would you say to those waiting in anticipation about the rulings?
I think the biggest thing now is start getting involved in spreading the word about the issues that high-skilled immigrants face and to join fights to protect other categories of immigrants as well. The attacks that the H-1B program is facing are not separate from the attacks on family reunification, country or religion specific bans, or other forms of immigration restrictions. They are tied to the same agenda of reducing the number of immigrants in the U.S. overall and to shutting down our borders to newcomers, from all parts of the world. I think it is important to support legislation like the Reuniting Families Act and to use your voice to be heard.
15 Comments
Honestly, I really don’t care about the so-called plight of these H4B EAD or whatever they’re categorized as – did they ever blink or spare a thought when they replaced someone in the job he or she had held for years??? You have no rights, no privileges and certainly are not entitled to anything when you’re a mere visa holder in this country. And when will American Bazaar stop patronizing the FOBs as if their rights are superior to everyone else’s?? I realize none of the rags published by the Indian lobby here have any editorial value whatsoever, but still if anyone is putting the least bit of thought into putting this out, keep in mind that there’s 330 million Americans that are not only opposed to the whole H1B cottage industry but who are acutely aware of the job-stealing role that indians play whatever country they migrate to. Enough is enough and if you can’t publish a fair and balanced piece that takes into account the woes faced by the other side, then stop publishing altogether – you don’t have much mainstream acceptance anyway.
Every country has the right to favor and prioritize its people. However,
America has to honor the labor certification process laid out. You can’t use their temporary visa status and keep them in temp status indefinitely and use it against them again and again when you hired them to begin with through department of labor rules.
No where there’s a mention of labor certification process one has to go through when it comes to immigration debate.
USCIS will continue to allocate 85,000 H-1B visas this year as well and no administration could change this rule. Also, US allows 1 million legal immigrants every year.. No change to that law either.. So, someone is scared of a mere 95,000 women having a work permit to seek work , start their own companies and generate american jobs then he/she must a low IQ or dumb person who can’t compete with others in the job market..
Since when one single India is considerss a “global talent”???
If you were not bringing people from India only, you would not have such problems to begin with…
Since the time when almost all Fortune 500 companies have opened their backoffice or R&D center in India employing millions of workers. Compare this to Iran where almost none of the Fortune companies employ skilled workers in that country.
“I think it’s more important than ever that Indian immigrants speak up to stop this turn in immigration policy.”
Excuse me but this is not your country. Any harm done by ending H-4 EAD will be offset by opening jobs for citizens. I join Trump in asserting these jobs belong to Americans. If employers are unwilling to pay up for Americans then the jobs should go unfilled.
Excuse me this is country of immigrants and by the way you are not Native American, I can say you were those Who kick the bridge after crossing. By the way all economists agree immigration is great to America and better to the world
Actually I do have Cherokee ancestors. Even so my other ancestors came here moving from one sovereign English territory to another. That is not immigration. My ancestors became American serving in Washington’s army.
More than half Americans can trace their ancestors back to before 1776. That means we are not a nation of immigrants. More important, even if we were a nation of immigrants that would not preclude us from restricting immigration.
I note that India has very restrictive laws on immigration and temporary workers. Demanding American jobs in light of how your government acts makes you a first class hypocrite. And rude to boot.
I am sorry to say this but your logic makes no sense.. USCIS will continue to allocate 85,000 H-1B visas this year as well and no administration could change this rule. Also, US allows 1 million legal immigrants every year.. No change to that law either.. So, if the scared of a mere 95,000 women having a work permit to seek work , start their own companies and generate american jobs then you must a low IQ or dumb person who can’t compete others in the job market..
Native Americans came from East Asia. So basically there is nothing cherokee. Accept you are asian if you are a native American or a melanin deficient white who cant compete.
Says a POS incompetent entitled desi citizen.
Says a POS incompetent entitled desi citizen.
Employers doesnt care if you are american or african.
But continue hiring from India only… which doesn’t make any sense at all
Every country has the right to favor and prioritize its people. However,
America has to honor the labor certification process laid out. You can’t use their temporary visa status and keep them in temp status indefinitely and use it against them again and again when you hired them to begin with through department of labor rules.
No where there’s a mention of labor certification process one has to go through in immigration debate.