President Joe Biden recently rescinded former President Donald Trump’s ban on family-based immigration amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but he is unlikely to rescind Trump’s ban on highly-skilled temporary workers entering the U.S.
“The optics aren’t great. Biden hasn’t taken any actions to rescind it, possibly because of push-back from organized labor and a thrashing from Republicans,” Indian American immigration attorney Cyrus Mehta told India-West, confirming that temporary workers coming to the U.S. on employment-based visas are still banned, under a proclamation the former president issued last July, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., as unemployment numbers soared above 10 percent, with more than 32 million people claiming unemployment, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Biden needs support to pass a stimulus bill,” Mehta added. Trump’s ban is set to expire March 31.
Visa categories included in the ban are H-1B workers and their spouses, H-2B visas for non-agricultural workers; J visas for student exchange programs; and L visas for intra-company transfers.
Exceptions were not initially made for health care workers, despite the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 U.S. residents; the proclamation was later modified to allow some health care workers to enter the…
