The Hindu reports that President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policy will benefit Indian professionals with specialized skills the most. The policy utilizes a points-based system to give priority to immigrants with specific employment and education qualifications.
The new system is similar to schemes used in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, per The Economic Times . K.V. Kumar, chairman and CEO of the Indian American International Chamber of Commerce (IAICC), believes that if the process screens applicants properly, the new scheme will make it easier for Indian professionals to obtain U.S. visas.
“It proposes to consider 57 percent of immigrants for skill-based green cards. That’s over a fourfold increase from the existing 12 percent.”
“A large population of Indians, who are currently on H-IB visas are going to benefit from it,” he added.
Kumar has worked with every U.S. president starting with Ronald Reagan, and his organization is responsible for representing many Indian or Indian-origin enterprises around the world.
According to The Times of India , the system awards points based on age, qualifications, and earnings. For example, a young, skilled worker that can provide for himself financially will get more points than someone older and less educated. The system will reward techies and entrepreneurs, many of whom currently face a waiting period of 10 years or longer.
But although Trump used Canada and Australia as examples to support his proposal, it’s important to note that even under the new scheme, the U.S. will likely continue to issue 1.1 million green cards each year. Comparatively, Canada let in just 5 million immigrants between 1989 and 2018.
Regardless, the president believes that the scheme will be beneficial to the U.S.
“We cherish the open door that we want to create for our country, but a big proportion of those immigrants must come in through merit and skill,” he said.
Vivek Tandon, the founder of EB5 BRICS and an immigration advisor, believes that the proposal will cut down on the time it takes for Indians to get a green card.
“If this proposal becomes law it will obviously help Indian H-1B visa holders because it will probably do away with a lot of the green card backlog.”
Trump’s tough stance on immigration has been a massive part of his presidency, and preventing the immigration of low-skilled workers could help his 2020 presidential re-election campaign. Under the new rules, low-wage or blue-collar American workers would face less competition from migrants, and this could help Trump once again rally the support of the working class.
