The Indian Panorama

Tag: US Congress

  • America’s Easter at 250: 2026 resurrects 1776 TRUMP REVIVES AMERICA

    America’s Easter at 250: 2026 resurrects 1776 TRUMP REVIVES AMERICA

    Our Declaration of Independence In Congress, July 4, 1776

    By Ravi Batra

    The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
    He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
    He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
    He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
    He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
    He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
    He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
    He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
    He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
    He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

    For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

    For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

    For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

    For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

    For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

    For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
    He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
    He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

    Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

    We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” This is why Thomas Jefferson is my favorite Founding Father Hero.

    America’s Best is Yet to Come!

    HAPPY 250TH BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

     

     

     

     

     

  • Indian American Bhavini Patel is running for US Congress

    Indian American Bhavini Patel is running for US Congress

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): From helping her single parent mother running a food truck “India on Wheels” in Pittsburgh to launching a tech startup after completing her education from the Oxford University, Indian American Bhavini Patel is now running for US House of Representatives.
    Patel, 30, last year on October 2 announced her decision to run for the Congress from the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, which is currently held by her Democratic Party colleague Summer Lee.
    Notably, Congresswoman Lee is one of the few lawmakers who had boycotted the historic Joint Address to the US Congress by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June last year.
    Preparing for her first hurdle of the primary, scheduled for April 23, Patel has raised over USD 310,000, of which she says roughly 70 per cent has been raised from within the State.
    “It’s truly emblematic of the community and the needs of the community. We’ve earned several labor union endorsements including support from the steamfitters, the operating engineers, and SMART, which is a railroad transportation union. When we think about support from the unions, that’s a really big deal, especially coming from Western Pennsylvania where there’s such a strong history of the power of the labor movement,” Patel told media.
    In addition to that, she has also got endorsements from roughly 33 elected officials, including mayors of small towns as well as members of council in those areas.
    Patel is a die-hard Biden supporter. “To be quite honest, I think he’s one of our most progressive presidents that we’ve seen” she said, referring to some of the key bills that his administration has been able to deliver, including infrastructure bill, Inflation Reduction Act, and Chips and Sciences Act.
    Originally from Gujarat in India, her mother came to this country as an immigrant.
    “She came to this country with very little, which I think is a story that resonates with many people in the Indian diaspora here in this country. When she came here, she raised my brother and me as a single parent. We moved around quite a bit, to various different cities, and she worked various odd jobs, washing dishes in the restaurant industry, working in the motel industry,” Patel said.
    “Then she eventually came to Monroeville, which is a small suburb in western Pennsylvania, and that’s where she started a small catering business, supplying samosas and various other pastries to the local Patel brothers there. From there she started a food truck business. So, my family has been running food trucks for the last 25 years,” she said.
    “It’s called India on Wheels. In many ways, that is my story. I grew up working in that family food truck business, grew up on Pitts campus, ran the serving window, helped out on the weekends with catering, and then at some point decided that I wanted to attend the University of Pittsburgh,” she said.
    Patel soon became the first in her family to graduate from college. “Then I earned a scholarship to get my master’s at the University of Oxford. Since then, I have been involved in various different public service efforts. When I think about the Indian diaspora, I think about the power of that story. To me, that’s so much, it’s very much so emblematic of the American dream.
    It’s the power of an idea, being able to come from a small village growing up in poverty, but being able to raise a daughter, educate your children, and then raise a daughter that’s running for US Congress. To me, that is the power of this country. That’s the positivity of what this country has to offer, and that’s what my candidacy is about, and that’s what this campaign is about,” she said.
    While she has been running a very positive campaign in her district, Patel of late has been a target of hate crime and racial abuse because of her ethnicity.
    Following this, Hindu and Jewish groups across the country have come out in her support. Hindu American PAC recently held a fundraiser for her.
    Patel is a strong advocate of India-US relationship. “Our relationship with India is very critical. I think there’s a burgeoning young population there. There’s a lot of hunger and desire to build a life and to contribute to the growth of India, but also globally there’s a lot of talent. So how can the United States, particularly how can Western Pennsylvania best position itself to attract that talent?” she said.
    “We’re home to Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and other university institutions. Many students do come from India. They earn their degrees. So being able to continue to build out a more robust visa program to allow people to attend the universities, to enter into the workforce, build small businesses, innovate and solve some of the biggest challenges that we’re facing in this country, including addressing things like the climate crisis,” she said.
    “It’s going to take innovation and real thought to be able to tackle the biggest crisis that our generation is facing. And I think that to be able to build coalitions globally, it’s absolutely critical to be able to address those concerns,” Patel said.

  • US Congress asked to update ‘woefully outdated’ immigration system

    US Congress asked to update ‘woefully outdated’ immigration system

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The Biden administration has asked the Congress to update the woefully outdated immigration system, the White House said Monday, August 28. “As we have said many times before, this is an outdated immigration system. We’ve asked the Congress to update our woefully outdated immigration system. We’ve been very clear on that, including, including the temporary visa programs that haven’t been updated in more than two decades,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference. Under the current regulations, workers on certain temporary visas usually have 60 days to secure new employment, pursue a different visa classification or make preparations to depart the United States.

    “So, the Congress needs to do their job and pass legislation, updating our immigration laws to reflect the needs of where we are, where we are currently in this 21st century economy,” she said.

    On the first day of his administration, President Joe Biden put forth an immigration reform legislation because he took this very seriously, the White House Press Secretary said.

    He wanted to make sure that was the first piece of legislation that he put forward on Day One because “this is such a broken system”, Jean-Pierre said in response to a question.

  • US Congress averts historic default, approves debt-limit suspension

    US Congress averts historic default, approves debt-limit suspension

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The U.S. Senate on Thursday, June 1 passed bipartisan legislation backed by President Joe Biden that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default, reports Reuter.

    The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill that had been passed on Wednesday, May 31 by the House of Representatives, as lawmakers raced against the clock following months of partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans. The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress failed to act by then.

    “We are avoiding default tonight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday, June 1, as he steered the legislation through his 100-member chamber.

    Biden praised Congress’ timely action. “This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” the Democratic president said in a statement, adding that he will sign it into law as soon as possible. He said he would make an additional statement on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT).

    Biden was directly involved in negotiations on the bill with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

    While this bitter battle has ended, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time flagging the next budget fight. “In the coming months, Senate Republicans will continue working to provide for the common defense and control Washington Democrats’ reckless spending,” he said in a statement.

    McConnell was referring to 12 bills Congress will work on over the summer to fund government programs in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, which will also carry out the broad instructions of the debt limit bill.

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, meanwhile, issued some pointed advice saying, “I continue to strongly believe that the full faith and credit of the United States must never be used as a bargaining chip,” as Republicans did over the past several months.Before the final vote, senators tore through nearly a dozen amendments – rejecting all of them during a late-night session in anticipation of Monday’s deadline.

    With this legislation, the statutory limit on federal borrowing will be suspended until Jan. 1, 2025. Unlike most other developed countries, the United States limits the amount of debt the government can borrow, regardless of any spending allocated by the legislature.

    “America can breathe a sigh of relief,” Schumer said in remarks to the Senate.

    ‘TIME IS A LUXURY’
    Republicans had blocked passage of any debt limit increase until they locked in some wide-ranging spending cuts in a move they said would begin addressing a rapidly escalating national debt.

    Biden instead pushed for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to help address the growing debt. Republicans refused to consider any sort of tax hikes.

    Both parties walled off the sprawling Social Security and Medicare retirement and healthcare programs from cuts, and McCarthy refused to consider reducing spending on the military or veterans.

    That left a somewhat narrow band of domestic “discretionary” programs to bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the end, Republicans won about $1.5 trillion in reductions over 10 years, which may or may not be fully realized. Their opening bid was for $4.8 trillion in savings over a decade.

    Treasury technically hit its limit on borrowing in January. Since then it has been using “extraordinary measures” to patch together the money needed to pay the government’s bills.

    Biden, Yellen and congressional leaders all acknowledged that triggering a default for lack of funds would have serious ramifications. Those included sending shock waves through global financial markets, possibly triggering job losses and a recession in the United States and raising families’ interest rates on everything from home mortgages to credit card debt.

    The Republican-controlled House passed the bill on Wednesday evening in a 314-117 vote. Most of those who voted against the bill were Republicans.

    “Time is a luxury the Senate does not have,” Schumer said on Thursday. “Any needless delay or any last-minute holdups would be an unnecessary and even dangerous risk.”

    Among the amendments debated were ones to force deeper spending cuts than those contained in the House-passed bill and stopping the speedy final approval of a West Virginia energy pipeline.

    COBBLED OVER WEEKS
    Republican Senator Roger Marshall offered an amendment to impose new border controls as high numbers of immigrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. His measure, he said, would “put an end to the culture of lawlessness at our southern border.”

    The Senate defeated the amendment, however. Democrats said it would strip away protections for child migrants and rob American farmers of needed workers.

    Some Republicans also wanted to beef up defense spending beyond the increased levels contained in the House-passed bill.

    In response, Schumer said the spending caps in this legislation would not constrain Congress in approving additional money for emergencies, including helping Ukraine in its battle against Russia.

    “This debt ceiling deal does nothing to limit the Senate’s ability to appropriate emergency supplemental funds to ensure our military capabilities are sufficient to deter China, Russia and our other adversaries, and respond to ongoing and growing national security threats, including Russia’s evil ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine,” Schumer said. The bill was cobbled together over weeks of intensive negotiations between senior aides for Biden and McCarthy.

    The main argument was overspending for the next couple of years on discretionary programs such as housing, environmental protections, education and medical research that Republicans wanted to cut deeply.

    The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would save $1.5 trillion over 10 years. That is below the $3 trillion in deficit reduction, mainly through new taxes, that Biden proposed.

    The last time the United States came this close to default was in 2011. That standoff hammered financial markets, led to the first-ever downgrade of the government’s credit rating and pushed up the nation’s borrowing costs.

    There was less drama this time as it became clear last week that Biden and McCarthy would find a deal with enough bipartisan support to get through Congress.

  • State of affairs: On Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address

    • United States President Joe Biden knows he must focus on both the U.S. economy and global challenges

    In his second State of the Union address, U.S. President Joe Biden tried to articulate several messages under one big theme — his administration was committed to rebuilding America’s economy while standing up to its challenges abroad. Much of the 72-minute speech was on the domestic agenda, particularly his economic optimism. The speech saw self-appreciation, ideas and rhetoric — he took pride in his economic policies, emphasizing the low unemployment rate and easing inflation, repeated the calls for taxing the super rich and bringing down prices of essential drugs, promised not to cut Social Security and Medicare and declared that democracies have become stronger and autocracies weaker.

    While there was no major policy shift, the 80-year-old President repeated the phrase “finish the job”, indicating that he needed more time to build on what he has already done — seen as a pitch for his re-election campaign. Mr. Biden also referred to Russia and China as key foreign policy challenges — the Ukraine invasion as “a test for America”, and that America “will act to protect our country” if its sovereignty is threatened, an indirect reference to the balloon incident.

    If Mr. Biden used the speech to defend his legacy and lay his vision, it also laid bare his administration’s critical challenges. To be sure, the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since 1969 — to 3.4% in January 2023 — and inflation continued to ease in the month. Still, most Americans (58% as in a recent survey), burdened by high energy prices and slow growth in wages, remain unhappy with his handling of the economy. The President may have plans for re-election, but only 37% Democrats back him. Mr. Biden will also face growing resistance to his policies from Congress in a Republican-controlled House.

    On foreign policy, the U.S. has so far stood resolutely behind Ukraine, but, as the war grinds on, there are rising questions about a possible endgame. A bigger challenge for Mr. Biden is how to handle ties with China at a time when the two superpowers compete for global influence. The balloon incident suggests that it is not an easy task. Half of Mr. Biden’s first term is over. As the election season is heating up, time is running short and his task is cut out — he has to act more decisively on the economic front if he wants to build a fair order of competition and opportunities, work towards ending the war in Ukraine without compromising on America’s standing in Europe, and put in place stronger guardrails in U.S.-China relations to check an escalation in tensions and deterioration in ties.

    (The Hindu)

  • US President Biden seeks comprehensive immigration reform in State of the Union address

    US President Biden seeks comprehensive immigration reform in State of the Union address

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President Joe Biden has urged the US Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform, a move which would provide a path to citizenship to not only illegal immigrants but also those who entered the country legally, like those on H-1B visas. In the 118th Congress, where the Opposition Republicans enjoy a majority in the House of Representatives, such an ask might not be an easy one.

    Biden acknowledged it indirectly though. “If you won’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border,” Biden said in his second State of the Union Address before a Joint Session of the US Congress.

    “And a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those on temporary status, farm workers, and essential workers. Here in the people’s House, it’s our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms,” said the president amidst applause from the Democratic lawmakers of the Congress.

    Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who enter the US as children with parents.

    Millions of illegal immigrants are looking for a pathway to citizenship, and so do a large number of those who entered the country legally with visas like H-1B and are having years waiting for a Green Card.

    The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

    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.

    In his address that lasted for more than 75 minutes, Biden urged Congress to come together on immigration and make immigration a bipartisan issue like it was before.

    “We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” he said. “Since we launched our new border plan last month, unlawful migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has come down 97 per cent. But America’s border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts,” Biden said.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Resolution introduced in US Congress to designate April 14 as National Sikh Day

    Resolution introduced in US Congress to designate April 14 as National Sikh Day

    WASHINGTON  D.C. (TIP): More than a dozen lawmakers, including Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, have introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives to designate April 14 of each year as National Sikh Day. Observing that the Sikh community, which began immigrating into the United States over 100 years ago, has played an important role in developing the United States; the resolution supports the designation of ‘National Sikh Day’ to honor and celebrate the important role played by the Sikh community in strengthening and inspiring the people of the United States.

    Sponsored by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, the resolution introduced in the House on March 28 was co-sponsored by over a dozen lawmakers: Karen Bass, Paul Tonko, Brian K Fitzpatrick, Daniel Meuser, Eric Swalwell, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Donald Norcross, Andy Kim, John Garamendi, Richard E Neal, Brendan F Boyle and David G Valadao.

    Both John Garamendi and David Valadao are Co-Chairs of the Sikh Caucus.The resolution was welcomed by Sikh caucus committee, Sikh coordination committee and American Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee.

  • US Congress tables Bill to remove per-country cap on green card

    US Congress tables Bill to remove per-country cap on green card

    WASHINGTON (TIP): A bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives to eliminate the per country cap on employment-based green card.

    The legislation was introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Congressman John Curtis, and it is likely to benefit Indian IT professionals anguishing over decades of green card wait.

    The Bill phases out the 7 per cent per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visa and raises the 7 per cent per-country limit on family-sponsored visa to 15 per cent.

    The Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act, 2021, needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be sent to the White House for the President to sign it into a law.

    Its predecessor, the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, was passed in the House in the 116th Congress with a resounding bipartisan vote of 365 to 65. “We all know that our immigration system is severely broken, and it has been broken for decades,” said Lofgren, Chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

    The basic framework for allocating the immigrant visa dates back to the middle of the 20th century and was last seriously updated in 1990, when the Congress established the worldwide numerical limits on visa and the seven per cent per-country cap that still exists today, she said.

    Over time, these limitations have led to backlogs that were unimaginable in 1990. The effect has been that countries with relatively small populations are allocated the same number of visas as a relatively large population country.

    “The result? A person from a large-population country with extraordinary qualifications who could contribute greatly to our economy and create jobs waits behind a person with lesser qualifications from a smaller country,” she added.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Joe Biden eager to fix ‘broken’ immigration system, says White House

    Joe Biden eager to fix ‘broken’ immigration system, says White House

    Bicameral immigration Bill, if signed into law by President Biden, would also benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals and their families

    WASHINGTON (TIP): President Joe Biden is keen that the US Congress should quickly fix America’s “broken” immigration system, for which he has already sent in a legislation, the White House has said. In February, the Biden administration introduced an ambitious immigration bill in Congress which among other things proposes to eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based green cards. The US Citizenship Act of 2021 proposes a pathway to citizenship to 11 million undocumented workers, elimination of per country quota for employment-based green cards and work authorization for dependents of H-1B foreign workers. “The president…believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels and of the system and that he is eager for Congress to move forward with action there,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday at her daily news conference. She was responding to a question on the recent protest by Indian-American doctors who are seeking the elimination of the existing per country quota for Green Card, as a result of which the backlog for Indians now runs into several decades. 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. The bicameral immigration bill, if passed by both the chambers of the Congress House of Representatives and the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, would bring citizenship to millions of foreign nationals, including undocumented workers and those who came to the country legally. The legislation would also benefit hundreds and thousands of Indian IT professionals and their families.

    Responding to another question on the inordinate delay in the issuance of employment authorization card to H4 and L2 visa holders, a significant number of whom are Indian women, Psaki said that part of the reason the administration went to push for action on immigration on the Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas.

    “So, that’s part of the reason why we think that’s such an important piece to move forward,” Psaki said.

    An H-4 visa is issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa holders, most of whom are Indian IT professionals.

    The Biden administration has taken several steps to address the problems related to legal immigrants.

    The citizenship bill sent by the White House to Congress includes providing new funding to the state and local governments, private organizations, educational institutions, community-based organizations, and not-for-profit organizations to expand programs to promote integration and inclusion, increase English-language instruction, and provide assistance to individuals seeking to become citizens. This bill clears employment-based visa backlogs, recaptures unused visas, reduces lengthy wait times, and eliminates per-country visa caps. The bill makes it easier for graduates of US universities with advanced STEM degrees to stay in the US; improves access to green cards for workers in lower-wage sectors; and eliminates other unnecessary hurdles for employment-based green cards. The bill provides dependents of H-1B visa holders work authorization, and children are prevented from “aging out” of the system. The bill sent by the White House also creates a pilot programme to stimulate regional economic development, gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to adjust green cards based on macroeconomic conditions, and incentivizes higher wages for non-immigrant, high-skilled visas to prevent unfair competition with American workers. It also requires that the DHS and the Department of Labor establish a commission involving labor, employer, and civil rights organizations to make recommendations for improving the employment verification process. Workers who suffer serious labor violations and cooperate with worker protection agencies will be granted greater access to U visa relief. The bill protects workers who are victims of workplace retaliation from deportation in order to allow labor agencies to interview these workers. It also protects migrant and seasonal workers and increases penalties for employers who violate labor laws.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Tests Positive for COVID-19 

    Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Tests Positive for COVID-19 

    WASHINGTON  (TIP): Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said on Tuesday, January 12 ,  that she has tested positive for coronavirus after being locked down in a secured room at the US Capitol where several Republican lawmakers recklessly refused to wear masks in the moments after the January 6 attack.

    “I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one,” 55-year-old Ms Jayapal tweeted.

    In a statement, Ms Jayapal said she began quarantining immediately after the attack on the Capitol, fearing and foreseeing exactly what would occur given the number of maskless lawmakers sitting in the same room with her.

    The duration in the room was multiple hours, she said.

    “Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,” she said.

    “Only hours after President (Donald) Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic – creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack,” she added.

    “While I am isolating per the Capitol Physician’s instructions, I will continue to work to the best of my ability because the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount,” she said.

    Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of the US Congress, advised representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have, “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”

    “I am also calling for serious fines to be immediately levied on every single Member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol,” Ms Jayapal said. “Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms. This is not a joke. Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”

    In December, Ms Jayapal was elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), making her one of the most powerful US lawmakers in the 117th Congress.

    On Monday, January 11,  Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

    “Following the events of Wednesday, including sheltering with several colleagues who refused to wear masks, I decided to take a Covid test. I have tested positive,” Mr Coleman tweeted on Monday.