Post by Alessandro Conte. Colgate class of 2021.

Source: Schultz, Kai, and Sameer Yasir. For Indian Diaspora, Panic and Anger Over Trump’s Immigration Plans. The New York Times, 22 Apr. 2020.

I read The New York Times article, “For Indian Diaspora, Panic, and Anger Over Trump’s Immigration Plans.” Posted on April 22, 2020, authors Kai Schultz and Sameer Yasir begin their article with the story of Ms. Nagar, an Indian citizen working in the US as a software developer. She and her husband, another Indian citizen employed in the US for Microsoft, have returned to India and applied for green cards whilst awaiting visa extensions. However, their future lives in the US have been threatened by Trump’s issuance of a 60-day halt on green card distribution to deter immigration to the United States amidst coronavirus concerns. From his administration’s point of view, Trump’s order is a mechanism through which American natives can be protected within the labor market. Provided that unemployment is rising, and job security is threatened by the spread of the coronavirus, Trump felt the conditions were opportune to advance his platform and ensure natives face less competition for jobs from immigrants seeking to acquire citizenship.

Trump’s order increases the pressure placed on the 800,000 immigrants currently waiting for a green card. Many potential immigrants must wait for decades on end to receive a green card due to the presence of quotas that restrict the number of authorized workers from each country. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act advanced last summer encouraged the elimination of these quotas, but it stalled in the Senate because the bill did not increase the aggregate number of green cards distributed to immigrants. The situation at hand has caused many analysts to fear the major loss in productivity which would result from decreased immigration to the US. From the source countries’ perspectives, however, the increasing likelihood of return migration amid tightening US immigration policy can be favorable. Immigrants will return home having gained human capital in the US and can therefore positively contribute within the origins’ labor markets.