Indian American lawmakers call for immigration reform to reduce green card backlog

Disappointed backlogged Indian says “environment in the US is not suitable for Indians”

Two Indian American lawmakers have urged their colleagues to make one more attempt to deliver long due immigration reform after the US House failed to pass the EAGLE Act eliminating 7% per country green card caps.

“Our immigration system is broken and antithetical to our moral values as a country,” tweeted Pramila Jayapal, House member from Washington. “There’s still time left in this session to deliver long-overdue reform. We have to get this done.”

Read: White House endorses Eagle Act to eliminate green card country cap (December 8, 2022)

“Per-country green card caps create lengthy backlogs to secure permanent status. For immigrants from India, this wait spans 150+ years,” she wrote in another tweet. “As someone who’s been on an H-1B visa, I’m proud to support the EAGLE Act to create a first-come, first-served system.”

Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley too was “disappointed to see that Congress has still not passed the EAGLE Act.”

“I urge House leadership to bring it up for a vote before we adjourn this Congress to end arbitrary per-country green card caps and bring down our decades-long backlog for immigrants,” he tweeted.

Rep Eric Swalwell was also “disappointed that the EAGLE Act, a bill to make our employment-based visa system fairer, hasn’t come for a vote in the House. Too many visa holders & their families are stuck in a green card backlog that arbitrarily discriminates against immigrants from certain countries.”

Read: EAGLE Act, a game changer for green card backlogs? (June 6, 2021)

Their comments were retweeted by Saurabh, a backlogged immigrant who tweeted his letter to Indian Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar and the Ministry of External Affairs “requesting them to issue a travel advisory for F1 & H1-B” – visa used extensively by Indian students and skilled workers.

“The environment in the US is not suitable for Indians and it is our moral duty to educate students and high-skilled workers against traveling & engaging with US institutions,” he tweeted

Coreena Enet Suares noted “700,000 Indian expats await Green Cards. Waiting time to receive a PR for an Indian applying today, is 90 years and around 80,000 children are expected to age out before their parents receive permanent residence.”

Read: Indians to Benefit From Bill Initiated By US Lawmakers to Fix Green Card Backlog (April 8, 2022)

David J. Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank also urged the Biden administration “to act aggressively to prevent the depopulation of the United States by skilled Indian immigrants.”

“Now that EAGLE Act is dead, and Congress is dead for at least 2 years. The admin needs to act aggressively to prevent the depopulation of the United States by skilled Indian immigrants,” he tweeted.