BIDEN REVOKES TRUMP-ERA BAN ON GREEN CARDS
TRUMP HAD BROUGHT IN THE VISA FREEZE TO PROTECT U.S. WORKERS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
SAN DIEGO: President Joe Biden has revoked a policy issued by his predecessor during the pandemic that blocked many green card applicants from entering the US, a move that will benefit many Indians working in America on the H-1B visa.
A green card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently. Indian IT professionals, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system which imposes a 7% per country quota on allotment of the coveted green card. Biden in his proclamation had said the policy of former President Donald Trump does not advance the interests of the US.
SAN DIEGO: President Joe Biden on Wednesday lifted a freeze on green cards issued by his predecessor during the pandemic that lawyers said was blocking most legal immigration to the US.
Former President Donald Trump last spring halted the issuance of green cards until the end of 2020 in the name of protecting the coronavirus-wracked job market - a reason that Trump gave to achieve many of the cuts to legal immigration that had eluded him before the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump on December 31 extended those orders until the end of March. Trump had deemed immigrants a “risk to the US labour market” and blocked their entry to the United States in issuing Proclamation 10014 and Proclamation 10052.
Biden stated in his proclamation on Wednesday that shutting the door on legal immigrants “does not advance the interests of the United States”.
“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilise talent from around the world,” Biden stated in his proclamation.
Most immigrant visas were blocked by the orders, according to immigration lawyers.
Biden ends funding cuts for ‘anarchist’ cities
Biden on Wednesday formally revoked a series of presidential orders and memorandum signed by Donald Trump, including one that sought to cut funding from several cities he deemed “anarchist” havens and another mandating that federal buildings should be designed in a classical aesthetic.
Trump issued a memorandum in September that sought to identify municipal governments that permit “anarchy, violence and destruction in American cities”.
The memorandum followed riots over George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. The justice department identified New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle as three cities that could have federal funding slashed.