H1B visa bill packs salary hike shocker Firms may have to double H1B staff pay
Acting Attorney General had called the order unlawful
■ DC CORRESPONDENT (WITH AGENCY INPUTS) NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, JAN 31 A legislation has been introduced in the United States’ House of Representatives which calls for more than doubling the minimum salary of H-1B visa holders — from US$ 60,000 to US$ 130,000 — making it difficult for companies to use the programme to replace American staff with foreign workers, including those from India.
Nearly two-thirds of H1B visa applicants are Indian nationals
The executive order drafted by the Trump Administration not only strangulates H-1B and L1 visas, but according to experts, also increases the “inspector raj” and ends employment authorisation cards to spouses on such work visas, which was recently introduced by the former Obama Administration.
According to reports pouring in from the US, the Presidential draft order was leaked to some news outlets that chose publish it.
The reports claim that Mr Trump is also set to reverse the Obama’s administration’s extension of the duration of optional practical training work visas, which allowed foreign students to stay in the United States a bit longer after completion of their studies. ■ A woman of Iranian origin cries as she waits for word on relatives at Los Angeles’ airport — AFP
Washington, Jan. 31: An embattled Donald Trump fired his government’s chief lawyer for refusing to defend his controversial immigration orders on Tuesday, deepening a political crisis engulfing his presidency.
In a caustic statement, Trump’s White House said acting attorney general Sally Yates “betrayed” the Department of Justice in defying the president and had been relieved of her duties with immediate effect.
Ms Yates — a career prosecutor promoted by president Barack Obama and held over by Mr Trump pending confirmation of his own nominee, Senator Jeff Sessions — had refused to defend Mr Trump’s ban on immigration from seven Muslim nations.
In a memo to Department of Justice staff, she expressed doubts about the legality and morality of Mr Trump’s decree. “My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is,” Ms Yates wrote.
“I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she added.
“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.” In the end, her tenure lasted only a few more hours.
The White House snapped back, accusing Ms Yates of being “weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.”
Mr Trump has replaced her with federal prosecutor Dana Boente as he awaits the Senate confirmation of Mr Sessions.
Mr Boente said he would defend Mr Trump’s directive, stating that it was “both lawful on its face and properly drafted.”
The executive order suspends the arrival of all refugees for a minimum of 120 days, Syrian refugees indefinitely and bars citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.
Several federal judges have since filed temporary stays against the decree’s implementation.
Mr Trump’s furious response may have lasting political repercussions, not least complicating Mr Sessions’s confirmation.
He faces a vote on Wednesday on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has to be confirmed by the full Senate.