Indian H1B visa-holders’ group in US hold equality rally demanding immigration law reform

A group of Indians on H1B visa held a rally on Wednesday in Washington DC, demanding immigration reforms to benefit those in the country legally. Indian immigrants, including women and children, organised an Equality Rally with the main aim of getting the attention of Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and also the only senator who has stopped the passing of a bill that would make receiving employment-based green cards a first come first serve system.

The rally conducted by the Immigration Voice organisation came together outside the Capitol with strong sentiments questioning why the 'Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act' should be passed in order to remove the current 7 percent per-country cap on employment visas. The protestors held placards at the rally with messages that read as 'Hate Has No Home Here', 'Senator Durbin Hates Indian Immigrants' and 'Racism is a Disease'.

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'They are stuck in the long green card backlog...'

"These are taxpaying law-abiding skilled immigrants who are already in the country for many years -- doctors, engineers, scientists and professors. They are stuck in the long green card backlog which will span 150 years! What we are doing here is protesting Senator Durban's hold on the bill yesterday and he is making sure that Indian immigrants who are already here would not get equal treatment under the law, which is unfair," said Aman Kapoor, Immigration Voice president.

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The group also demanded that the green card backlog must be cleared as opposed to the current wait time, that could run into decades for employment-based green cards for Indians.

"Well, the American dream I think is no longer true for Indian immigrants with the way the system is today. It is very discriminatory. I wish somebody told me that when I was young, I always grew up watching American sitcoms and serials and imagined the lifestyle that I would have and I worked really hard towards it. But that, unfortunately, is not happening for me right now. So if I were to go back in, in my previous time and reset this, I would probably think otherwise," a protestor told ANI.

Furthermore, the group also aggressively pushed for Legal childhood arrivals (LCAs) to receive any benefits that individuals brought illegally to the US as minors often referred to as "Dreamers" might receive legal status in the United States. H1B visa-holders, whose children and spouses get H4-dependent visas, are demanding that H4 children be given green cards straight away, so they can remain in the US after they turn 21 without having to switch to another visa category such as a student visa or an H1B visa or having to self-deport.

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Kapoor further informed ANI that they have requested Senator Durban and his staff for last nearly 15 years to include children of Indian immigrants who are legal immigrants in the US in the DREAM Act. However, they have systematically excluded children of Indian immigrants, he added. 

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(With inputs from ANI)