US President Donald Trump indicates 60-day immigration ban may not apply to H1-B

New York: US President Donald Trump has said that his immigration ban will be for only 60 days and indicated that workers on temporary visas like H1-B for professionals could continue to come in. “This order will apply only to individuals seeking a permanent residency, in other words, those receiving green cards; big factor, will not apply to those entering on a temporary basis,” Trump said on Tuesday while clarifying that it is for only 60 days. He said that there would also be some exemptions to the temporary ban on immigrants.

“Some people will have to come in; obviously we have to do that, obviously even from a humane standpoint,” he said.

Trump had tweeted the immigration ban on Monday night. He said that the executive order was being drafted and will probably be issued on Wednesday.

Trump said that after 60 days he and a group will evaluate the need for any extension or modification “based on economic conditions at that time.”

An immigration lawyer, Mark Davies, said that based upon the president’s comments H1-B visas for professionals, and temporary visas known as E-2 for a category of investors and L-1 visas for employees of foreign companies transferred to work in the US are not affected. But he added, “This may change as more information emerges.”

These categories of visas are temporary and do not of themselves confer permanent residence or path to citizenship.

But Davies said that the immigration ban would affect another category of visas for investors known as EB-5 because it “is a fast route to a Green Card for families and individuals able to invest $900,000.” Trump said that he was solely motivated by the plight of American workers rendered jobless by the COVID-19 epidemic.

He said, “By pausing immigration we will help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as America re-opens — so important. Would wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be replaced by new immigrant about flown in from abroad.”

Another reason he said was to help “conserve vital medical resources for American citizens” and “protect the solvency of our health care system.”

Although he denied a reporter’s suggestion that he was using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to push his agenda of limiting immigration, that appeared to be what the ban was set to accomplish to a degree.

Trump has said that he wanted to end the immigration of extended family members and has imposed a requirement for immigrants to get health insurance and prove that they won’t utilise public benefits.

Many of those in the pipeline to receive green cards, especially Indians, are already legally in the US on other visas waiting their turn. So the ban will have a greater impact on potential immigrants in categories like relatives of citizens, especially if exemptions are carved out for those coming in on the basis of some employment categories. His mention of conserving health resources is in line with the earlier mandate he had issued for immigrants to have health insurance. He has said that he wanted to change the existing immigration system to give preference based on merit to immigrants coming for jobs at the expense of other categories like relatives, which he wants to end. While he said that he was suspending immigration in order to protect American workers, the ban does not extend to non-immigrant workers who would be taking up jobs. (IANS)

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