Many Indian women in limbo
LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA: For seven All that planning, though, is in years, Deepika Jalakam sat at jeopardy. Jalakam and thouhome. Bored, unfulfilled and sands of other spouses of skilled dependent on her husband for workers have been told that their every dime, she struggled with special work permits — authorithe notion that her professional sation that can mean the differlife was doomed in the land of ence between struggling and opportunity. thriving in their adopted home
So when the employment card land—are likely to be revoked. arrived in the mail in 2015, JalaThe Trump administration kam did what she often does announced last fall that, as part of when good fortune comes her a crackdown on H-1B visas issued way: She placed it before the gods for skilled workers to enter the in the Hindu shrine mounted in US, it plans to rescind an Obamaher kitchen cabinet, blessed it era programme that allowed with a dab of red “kum kum” powspouses to work. The change, der and recited a prayer. expected in June, would mean
Within weeks, Jalakam, who that thousands of mainly Indian has a degree in biotechnology, women who followed their huslanded a job as an analyst at an bands to the US will have to give insurance company. The next up their jobs, even though many year, she and her husband, Vinay are highly educated workers with Kumar, a software engineer, sought-after skills. bought a house. In 2017, the finan“We were happily working and ces of the Indian immigrant coufeeling settled down with the life ple were secure enough that they we wanted. Suddenly, this decided to have a second child. announcement came and there is instability,” said Jalakam, 32, who now finds herself worrying about everything from day-today spending to vacation plans.
Across the country, thousands of Indian families are caught in a similar dilemma because of the outsized role that they play in the H-1B visa programme.
The annual visa scramble began this week, with applications delivered by the truckload to government processing centers. The petitions represent tens of thousands of foreigners vying for the opportunity to work in the US for three years or longer.
Many are Indian software engineers and computer programmers recruited by US technology companies that say they cannot find enough talent in this country. Among the applicants are Indian math and science teachers headed for rural schools, as well as physicians and other professionals.