US lawmakers seek to lift caps on green cards

A pair of Democratic and Republican US lawmakers on Wednesday re-introduced a bill in the US House that proposes to remove a per-country limit on employment-based green cards, which has created a massive backlog of applicants, specially from India.

The Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment Act 2021 (EAGLE Act) proposes the phasing out of a per-country limit of 7% on the roughly 1 million employment-based green cards issued annually, and raising the cap on family-based green cards from 7-15% of a total of about half a million.

The bill, which was introduced by Democrat Zoe Lofgren

WASHINGTON:

and Republican John Curtis, is similar to one cleared by the House in July 2020 with huge bipartisan support. The US Senate passed a similar bill with some amendments with unanimous consent in December.

In another development, US President Joe Biden has tasked vice-president Kamala Harris to lead the efforts on protecting voting rights as Republican lawmakers seek to bring in voting restrictions.

Also, Biden has announced that the US was halting oil development activity in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a move by ex-president Donald Trump to allow drilling. through a local counsel, possibly leading to long hearings as Choksi’s legal team will be given time to respond, the experts said. This, they added, might mean that Choksi’s stay in Dominica could be extended by few weeks.

The controversy around Choksi’s deportation also triggered a political row in the neighbouring island nations.

Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Tuesday denied his government’s involvement in Choksi’s disappearance and alleged that the opposition party United Progressive Party (UPP) was funded by the India-born businessman. UPP accused Browne of disregarding the law and Choksi’s constitutional and legal protection in Antigua.

In Dominica, leader of opposition Lennox Linton said his party sought a probe and alleged that Choksi was abducted at the behest of PM Roosevelt Skerrit. A day later, local media alleged that Linton had received a bribe from Choksi’s brother Chetan, a charge denied by the Opposition leader on Wednesday.

But the businessman’s wife, Priti Choksi, rejected the charges being hurled at her husband and said he was treated as a criminal in Antigua because of statements by Browne.

“After seeing the pictures of his torture, don’t you think we have every right to fear for his life if he is sent to India?” she asked.

THE DOMINICAN MAGISTRATE IS EXPECTED TO HEAR THE MATTER IN

THE EARLY HOURS OF THURSDAY, INDIA TIME.