Photo by The White House from Washington, DC
On Wednesday, April 22, American President Donald Trump passed a swift order that altered US immigration policy amidst a coronavirus lockdown. While the order doesn’t affect people who have already acquired green cards to live in the US, it effectively declares that people living overseas who migrate for education and opportunities in specialised industries like IT may no longer be able to live or work in America.
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While the order currently pauses immigration for 60 days, experts are concerned that this period could be extended in keeping with Trump’s vociferous anti-immigration rhetoric. To be clear, the president's order only applies to foreign nationals seeking residency in the US, and will not affect those who already have permanent green cards or temporary travel permits for tourism and business. It also exempts individuals seeking to permanently enter the country as medical professionals or researchers, as well as members of the armed forces, those seeking asylum or refugee status, people married to American citizens and their children. This new order mainly targets what Trump likes to call ‘chain migration’, in which green card holders sponsor visas for their extended families, along with the Diversity Visa Lottery, which issues about 50,000 green cards every year. And while the force of its effects is diluted in the pandemic situation which has shut down consulates, the new order has triggered uncertainty, anxiety and anger for people across the world waiting for their residency and work visas to be approved or renewed. Accounting for almost 80 percent of immigrants in the US, Indians are facing a confusing and challenging change.
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