Washington: Some influential Democratic party lawmakers have appealed to US President Donald Trump’s administration to exempt some healthcare workers from the ban on H-1B visa holders entering the country. The President Trump administration on June 23 postponed H-1B visas and other types of foreign work visas to the end of 2020 for the protection of American employees in this important election year.
The H-1B visa is quite popular among Indian IT professionals. It is a non-immigrant visa. Through this, American companies can appoint foreign employees in positions of technical or other expertise. US technology companies hire thousands of professionals from China and India on this visa every year. In a letter to Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo, Homeland Security Executive Minister Chad Wolf and Labor Minister Yugin Scalia, lawmakers said on Tuesday that the sanctions have largely affected the health services of rural and uneducated communities, in particular, Most immigrants are treated by doctors.
He said that even though concessions have been granted to individuals working on COVID-19 related care and research, limiting the number of health workers during this crisis puts all Americans at risk. The letter is signed by Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Representative, Richard Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the delegation, and Joey Lofgren, vice chairman of the delegation’s subcommittee on immigration and citizenship.
“Without adequate health and research workforce, we are unnecessarily putting more people at risk and also creating barriers to our economic recovery,” the letter said.
