VISAS BASED ON MERIT: TRUMP
President’s new merit-based system likely to benefit Indian professionals
Washington, March 1: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday pushed for a meritbased immigration system that could benefit high-tech professionals from countries like India. He said that such a system will save countless dollars and raise workers’ wages.
Indian information technology professionals account for the largest number of foreign nationals coming to the United States on H-1B visas.
Washington, March 1: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for adopting a merit-based immigration system that could benefit high-tech professionals from countries like India, modifying his hard-line campaign rhetoric with a promise to revive the ‘American spirit’.
Mr Trump, during his first address to Congress, noted that “nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others have a merit-based immigration system”.
He said that such a system will save countless dollars and raise workers’ wages.
“Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families — including immigrant families — enter the middle class,” Mr Trump said in a State of the Union-style address that lasted for an hour.
He, however, did not spell out how the meritbased system would work. But on the face of it, Indians would make a good fit for a meritbased system going by the community’s current profile.
According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of Indians in the US are college graduates.
Mr trump, however, did not mention of those working in the US on temporary professional work visas known as H-1B.
Indian IT professionals account for the largest number of foreign nationals coming to the US on H-1B visas.
In his longest presidential speech to date, Mr Trump remained largely on message, reading his planned address almost verbatim.