What is the EAGLE Act, and how might it help immigrants from India?
By removing the “per country” restriction on employment-based immigrant visas, the Act aims to give US employers the freedom to “focus on hiring immigrants based on merit, not birthplace.”
The US Congress was urged by the White House last week to enact legislation that would do away with the per-country cap on green card issuance. If the legislation is approved, it will enable US employers to make hiring decisions based more on “merit” than “birthplace,” which will benefit Indian-Americans. The EAGLE Act of 2022 will soon be voted on by the House of Representatives (Equal Access to Green Card for Legal Employment).
What benefits does a green card offer? What exactly is a green card?
An immigrant can live and work permanently in the US if they are granted a “green card,” also known as a “permanent resident card.” The card is used to show that the holder has been granted the right to live permanently.
Having a green card has a number of benefits, some of which are as follows: it offers a path to citizenship; a holder can also sponsor immediate family members for the same card; it makes it simple to access the US social security system and educational assistance; a holder can choose to mainly live anywhere in the US; and there is greater freedom in terms of career opportunities as also one can apply for a variety of jobs.
What is the EAGLE Act of 2022, also known as H.R. 3648?
By removing the “per country” restriction on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards), the Act aims to give US employers the freedom to “focus on hiring immigrants based on merit, not birthplace.” The legislation proposes to phase out the per-country caps over a nine-year period in order to lessen the impact on less populous countries and ensure that eligible immigrants from all these countries are not excluded when the Act goes into effect.
In order to meet the demand for physical therapists and nurses in the healthcare industry, the President’s Executive Office announced that some visas would be set aside during the transition period “for employment-based immigrants and also their family members who are not currently in the United States.”
The H-1B specialty occupation visa programme is another area that the EAGLE Act 2022 seeks to enhance. This would be achieved, among other things, by tightening the standards for hiring, enhancing worker protections for Americans, and raising transparency.
“Important provisions in H.R. 3648 also permit people who have been sitting in the immigration visa backlog for two years to submit their green card applications. The applications might not be accepted until a visa is made available, but the statement claims that doing so “would enable employment-based immigrants to exit temporary visas and give them additional flexibility in changing employers or starting businesses.”
What effects will the law have on Indian-Americans?
Due to the per-country cap, there are only 140,000 employment-based green cards available, and the backlog has grown to millions. In the CATO Institute’s 2022 report, it is stated that the majority of backlogged immigrants are from India.
The CATO 2020 report found that skilled Indian workers accounted for 75% of the employment-based backlog in the US. Notably, the backed-up Indian workers would have to wait 90 years for a green card if they all stayed in line.
Over “200,000 petitions filed for Indians may expire as a result of workers passing away from old age before receiving green cards,” according to the 2020 report.
Indians must wait significantly longer than other immigrants because employers submit far more petitions for Indians than is permitted by the law, which places a limit on the number of green cards that can be granted to immigrants from a single place of birth.
Even removing the per-country cap, however, would result in wait times of more than ten years for every employer-sponsored immigrant given the current circumstances. Indians suffer as a result of the per-country restrictions, with more recent immigrants having to wait their entire lives for green cards.
In order to allow US employers to focus on hiring people based on merit rather than birthplace, the White House has urged Congress to pass legislation that would eliminate per-country quotas on green cards. If passed, this legislation would help hundreds of thousands of immigrants, particularly Indian-Americans.
A Green Card, also called a Permanent Resident Card, is a document given to immigrants in the US as evidence that they have been granted permission to live permanently in the country.
This week, the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2022 will be put to a vote in the House of Representatives.
The EAGLE Act would eliminate an employment-based green card per-country cap that disproportionately disadvantages immigrants from India.
In order to make sure that qualified immigrants from less populous countries are not prevented from entering the United States as the EAGLE Act is implemented, if this legislation were to pass, the per-country caps would gradually be eliminated over a nine-year period.
According to the White House, “the administration supports efforts to enhance our immigrant visa system and lessen the severe effects of the immigrant visa backlog.”
As a result, the administration is in favour of HR 3648, also known as the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, which would do away with the “per country” restriction on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards), allowing US employers to concentrate on hiring immigrants based on qualifications rather than place of birth.
To ensure that no countries would be refused visas while the per-country caps were being phased out, these changes would be implemented over a nine-year transition period.
According to the White House, visas would be reserved during the transition period for physical therapists and nurses in order to meet urgent needs in the healthcare sector, as well as for immigrants who came to the country on the basis of their employment and their relatives who are currently outside the country.
According to Neil Makhija, executive director of the Indian American Impact, “this legislation would change the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are currently stuck in legal limbo while waiting for green cards.”
He claims that the per-country restriction on green cards is a holdover from an anti-Asian immigration policy that completely excluded them.
It is past time for the Congress to act and give fair and equitable treatment to the vast majority of immigrants who call this country home, because the caps were put in place decades ago and do not reflect our main country’s values “stated Makhija.
According to the White House, the bill also contains crucial provisions that will enable people who have been two years in the immigration visa backlog to submit their green card applications.
It was stated that this would enable employment-based immigrants to transition off of their current temporary visas and give them more flexibility in changing jobs or starting a business, even though the applications wouldn’t be approved until a visa became available.
According to the White House, also the bill would also maintain family unity by ensuring that children of employment-based immigrants do not lose their dependent status or their eligibility for a green card.
The White House claims that immigrants have strengthened America’s most valuable competitive advantage—the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship—by investing in important areas of the US economy for generations.
According to the statement, immigrants “help our economy grow, our communities flourish, and our country advance.”
The US Citizenship Act would further improve the immigrant visa system by expanding legal pathways to the country, giving millions of undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, and establishing a new system to responsibly manage and secure our border, according to the White House. “In addition to HR 3648, the administration urges Congress to pass the US Citizenship Act,” the White House said.
The passage of legislation would offer 700,000 Indians who have been snarled in a decades-long backlog significant relief.
As the US House of Representatives gets ready to vote on the “EAGLE Act,” legislation to gradually remove the 7% per country cap on employment-based immigrant visas or green cards, the White House has come out in support of it.
Indians who have been waiting for green cards or permanent resident permits for years would be greatly relieved by the Equal Access to main Green Cards for current Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, which also increases the 7% per country limit on family-sponsored green cards to 15%.
The President’s Executive Office stated in a Statement of Administration Policy released on December 6. The Equal Access to Green Cards for main Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, which would remove the “per country” restriction on employment-based immigrant visas (green cards), has the support of the House. As a result, the Administration is in favour of the bill’s passage.
According to the White House, “HR 3648 also seeks to improve the main H-1B specialty occupation visa programme by strengthening recruitment requirements, enhancing protections for US workers, enhancing transparency, and making it simpler for the Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate H-1B employer abuses.”
“As this legislation advances, the Administration urges Congress to mainly work with the Department of Labor to ensure that it effectively advances these goals and addresses any administrative problems or unintended effects on the current enforcement regime,” the administration said in a statement.
The report stated that “HR 3648 also includes crucial provisions that will permit people who have been two years in the immigration visa backlog to file their green card applications.”
“Although the applications might not be accepted until a visa becomes available, doing so would enable employment-based immigrants to leave their temporary statuses and give them more flexibility in terms of switching jobs or opening their own businesses.
“The bill’s primary goal is to preserve families by preventing the loss of dependent status or green card eligibility for children of employment-based immigrants.
“The effects of the visa backlogs, which have kept hundreds of thousands of immigrants from receiving permanent residence simply because of their main country of origin, would be lessened as a result of these changes.
According to the White House, “immigrants also have strengthened our most valuable competitive advantage—our spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship—for generations by making contributions to key sectors of the US economy.” “Immigrants contribute to the advancement of our nation, our communities, and our economy.”
The US Citizenship Act would further reform and improve the immigrant visa system by extending legal pathways to the country, offering millions of undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, and also establishing a new system to main responsibly manage and secure our border, according to the statement. “In addition to HR 3648, the Administration urges Congress to pass the US Citizenship Act,” it said.
An advocacy group called Immigration Voice responded to the White House’s support for the legislation by saying, “Your advocacy is having an impact.” The White House has approved of the Eagle Act. But until it is finished, it is not finished. In order to keep putting pressure on lawmakers, it urged supporters to “keep calling and visiting your representatives.”
“Call every House office in your district one more time this morning to urge them to support the Eagle Act and put an end to discrimination. “This is their chance!” it said on Thursday, “Tell them they’ve never had the opportunity to save the lives of 1 million identifiable people with just one vote.”
According to Neil Makhija, executive director of the Indian American Impact, “this legislation would change the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who are currently stuck in legal limbo while waiting for green cards.”
He claimed that the per-country limit on Green Cards was a remnant of a prejudiced system that at one time completely barred Asian immigrants. “The caps were put in place decades ago and do not represent the values of our nation. It is past time for Congress to take action to ensure that the numerous immigrants who have made this country their home receive fair and equitable treatment.”
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
