S. 2091 includes a clause that DHS should have the authority to give EAD to spouses of non-immigrant visa holders.
Ever since the passing of H.R. 1044, or the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, there has been an ongoing debate on the future of the bill and whether it stands any chance of becoming a law.
While it may be some time before that happens, what the passing of the bill has done is that it has shifted the attention toward the broken American immigration system and the need for reform. And this is apparent from another bill has been introduced since then.
RELATED: Petition launched on the White House website in support of Senate bill S. 386 (July 15, 2019)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has come with a new bill titled “BELIEVE Act.”
The bill is actually is a competing bill to the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act. It may be noted that Sen. Rand Paul had previously blocked the S. 386, or the Green Card Country Limit Removal Bill, the companion bill to H.R. 1044.
RELATED: The newly passed H.R.1044 raises caps for family-based green cards (July 10, 2019)
He wants the bill to have a provision for immigrant nurses in the bill.
The Kentucky Republican has been a very vocal opponent of H.R. 1044 and S. 386 is currently stalled in the Senate.
Paul has now come up with his new bill that proposes improvements in the current immigration system.
The new S. 2091, or the “Backlog Elimination, Legal Immigration and Employment Visa Enhancement (BELIEVE) is primarily aimed at removing the green card back logs for employment-based visa holders. It also includes benefits for H4-EAD.
RELATED: Waiting for the Wait to End: The human face of Indian immigrants caught in the Green Card backlog(December 4, 2018)
The bill has a clause which may be good news for H4 EAD seekers. It says that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should have the authority to give employment authorization or EAD to spouses of non-immigrant H-1B or L visa holders.
In the current scenario where DHS has been working toward eliminating H4 EAD, this clause may also stress that H 4 EAD workers do not take away American jobs but are instead boosting the economy.
The bill also proposes employment authorization to spouses and minor children of temporary worker. It also provides employment authorization and legal status while waiting for a green card.
The bill also aims to double employment-based green cards and includes a special provision for healthcare workers where they can file for immigrant visas.
RELATED: Will Trump’s proposed immigration reform benefit Indians? What will be its impact on Green Card backlog? (May 20, 2019)
While what happens in the Senate is yet to be seen, the truth remains that both the bills (H.R.1044 and S.2091) propose changes to the immigration system and highlight that the per country cap for green cards give an inherent advantage to people from most countries, while citizens of some others, such as Indian and China, are subjected to inordinate delays.
ALSO READ:
How Netra Chavan channeled her own frustrations to build an H4 and H-1B visa support system (February 14, 2019)
RHC’s H-1B rally demands elimination of Green Card backlog, protection for ‘DALCA’ children (February 10, 2019)
Trump talks about changes in H-1B Visa, including a possible citizenship (January 11, 2019)
Trump’s tweet on H-1B and path to citizenship evokes lukewarm response (January 12, 2019)
Waiting for the Wait to End: The human face of Indian immigrants caught in the Green Card backlog (December 4, 2018)
H-4 and H-1: Time for Indian immigrants to speak up on immigration policy, says author Amy Bhatt (January 5, 2019)
The unstable life of Indians on H-1B visa in the US due to visa renewal policy (October 28, 2016)
High-skilled Indian workers, DALCA kids, rally on Capitol Hill to clear green card backlog (June 15, 2018)
Reverse brain drain – the experience of three couples who moved back to India from the US (January 20, 2014)
4 Comments
” the per country cap for green cards give an inherent advantage to people from most countries, while citizens of some others, such as Indian and China, are subjected to inordinate delays.”
LOL, you get the prize for the best spin award. Right, people seeking to emigrate from countries that only get 100 visas are getting “an inherent advantage” over India and China which gets tens of thousands of visas a year and still want more.
We Americans have college graduates in STEM degrees, $100,000 in student debt, that are being denied the opportunities they are due, by American employers. Highly-qualified tech workers in their 40s with children in college are made to train their Indian replacements, and then laid off. And they KNOW that Americans ARE NOT EVEN BEING INTERVIEWED for tech jobs, because Google, et al, want ONLY Indians (and some Chinese).
I am sorry, but your university degrees are not as good as ours, so a normal US college tech degree is roughly equivalent to an advanced degree from India. This has nothing to do with race, it has to do with fairness to Americans, who have suffered huge job and income losses in the last 10 years, and are only now starting to recover.
Most Americans don’t care what color you are. I have personally been to India many times, and enjoy its people a lot (and food)! But American jobs are for Americans, and that is the issue. Most people I know could not care less if you are white, green or purple polka-dotted. We want a future for our people and their children, before we offer this to others.
My grandparents were immigrants. We welcome immigrants that want to BE AMERICANS, give their hearts to America, not just take her jobs. What we hear from most immigrants these days, especially from poor countries, is that they come for our prosperity, our jobs, our rule of law, etc, those things WE BUILT, but not our country and it’s culture. And THAT makes us angry.
I think most of the senators are racist. They won’t show it. Things that can be done by a simple amendment, they would block and ask for more provisions in the new Act, which previous senators would block as it is more lenient. It is like hey, I like your food, but, it has few more molecules of salt.
Second is credibility. they would like to show that act was written by them and it would bear their name forever.
Nothing will happen until they see the severe need for it. Something catastrophic like market crash or international war.
It is said that a kid will only eat if he/she is really hungry. At that time, they will eat anything. Convincing them may not be the right path. This is pretty much similar. That pretty much leaves 1 option, wait.
Your website is horribly broken on mobile. Scrolling is not possible. I could not read anything.