Indian workers impacted by Trump's new executive order on H-1B visas

ASAM NEWS

DONALD TRUMP'S executive order cracking down on the use of H-1B visas could greatly affect Indian workers.

According to The Indian Panorama, about 70 percent of the 85,000 H-1B visas handed out each year go to people from India. H1B visas are used to hire foreign employees for highly skilled jobs which could not be filled otherwise.

Trump said the H-1B system should never be used to replace American workers and the visa must be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants, reported PBS.

“We are going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first,” Trump said standing before an American flag.

The Trump administration also said they would enforce ‘Hire American’ rules that are designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the United States.

According to the executive order, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Homeland Security will suggest reforms to help ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid petition beneficiaries.

The pool of qualified Indian IT professionals also contributed to the global success of American companies.

But since the November elections, more Indian workers in the U.S. are now seeking jobs in India as Trump signed the order.

The number of Indians in the U.S. searching for jobs in India has increased more than 10-fold between December and March, according to an analysis by consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Pvt Ltd, shared exclusively with LiveMint.

Approximately 600 Indians in the U.S. were seeking jobs in India in December 2016. The number had gone up to approximately 7,000 by the end of March 2017, Deloitte analysis said.