House passes bill to increase H-1B visas: Senate chances dim

The line for visas at the US Embassy in Manila.

Almost lost amidst the news swirling around the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, the citizenship question on the Census, and the pending ICE raids, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R.1044) on Wednesday (July 10) which would change the way H-1B visas are apportioned to each country.

The legislation addresses the decades-long wait times for applicants from places like India, China, or the Philippines by eliminating caps for employment-based visas and raising the family visa cap from 7 percent to 15 percent. 

However, the Senate version will likely go down in flames.

“In order for American industries to remain competitive and create more jobs, they must be able to recruit and retain the best talent in the world,” said the bill's sponsor, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents part of Silicon Valley.

Many of the impacted applicants already live and work in America and are doctors, engineers, and scientists who studied in American universities. They have faced decades-long wait times for permanent residence and as a result, have decided to relocate to other countries, subsequently hurting the future of the U.S. economy. 

This is especially good news for Silicon Valley, where around seven in 10 workers are foreign-born. With the limit abolished, Indians, the largest cohort of the H-1B visa recipients with green card wait times ranging between a long 12 and an aggravating 150 years, stand to reap the biggest benefits.

New American Economy (NAE) issued the following statement in support of the legislation:

“This legislation is an important step in creating an immigration system that allows the most talented workers to work in the United States,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “We applaud the House for taking action and urge the Senate to follow suit and remove undue barriers that restrict the U.S. economy from reaching its full potential.”

New research from New American Economy finds that:

• Indian, Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese immigrants are disproportionately affected by country caps and the backlog in permanent residency applications. Of the nearly 400,000 green card applications that were in the backlog as of April 2018, over 95 percent hailed from India, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam. 

• Immigrants from countries most directly affected by the current per-country cap are well-educated. Nearly 80 percent of Indian immigrants have bachelor’s degrees and more than 27 percent of Chinese immigrants have advanced degrees.

• The immigrants who may be positively impacted by this legislation will contribute substantially to the American economy. Indian immigrant households earned nearly $162.6 billion and paid more than $50.0 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2017, and Chinese immigrant households earned nearly $116.9 billion in 2017 and paid more than $34.9 billion in taxes. Filipino and Vietnamese immigrants also made significant contributions to the U.S. economy, paying more than $20.5 billion $11.9 billion in taxes respectively and holding more than $53.5 billion and $33.2 billion in spending power respectively

SOURCE: USCIS

Aman Kapoor, the Co-Founder and President of Immigration Voice stated that:
“Immigration Voice is absolutely thrilled that the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act has received this overwhelming bipartisan support and vote of confidence from the members of the House of Representatives.  ... The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act is a win-win for the American people. It will grow our economy by allowing highly skilled immigrants to start their own companies and will make sure that these new companies hire American workers who are made more attractive by this bill.

Critics of the bill fear that it will allow one country, India in particular, to dominate the visa for decades to come, something that Lofgren admits will occur. She said it would take a decade under her legislation before visa applications would even out.

The Philippines, India and Vietnam would also benefit if the bill passes that doubles the percentage of visas allowed for family reunification, from 7% to 15%. Currently, there are about 336,000 on the wait list, which amounts about a 23 year wait for a visa under this category.

The GOP-dominated Senate will vote on its version of the Bill, S. 386, where it faces only a 4% chance of passage according to govtrack.com. 

__________________________________________________________________

Happy Birthday Mindy Kaling, a Hollywood powerhouse

On her 40th birthday today (June 24), let's give Mindy Kaling a shoutout and some belated props.

She doesn't get the press of Ava DuVernay or Shonda Rhimes, two African American producers, but in her own quiet path, Kaling has become a Hollywood powerhouse in presenting stories from the perspective of South Asians.

In her own journey, she has broken through many barriers to women and people of color in the entertainment industry and because of her high profile, she has been the target of criticism, even from from Asian Americans.

Perhaps its because she didn't develop her "street cred" by not being publicly confrontational in her career moves. Instead of shouting discrimination at every turn or detour, she chooses instead, to soften the bias against people of color -- either as the lone woman of color in a writers' room or as a powerful content producer -- with a twist of irony or self-deprecating humor.

Perhaps it is also of her own making. As she moved from her breakthrough rrole in The Office, to writing and producing The Mndy Project, the South Asian American artist has been criticized for appearing late to accept her own heritage as a part of her character and favoring white romantic interests on The Mindy Project.

In an interview promoting her latest movie, Late Night, she said it didn't reflect her own experience. Although in real life she was treated better than the characters she depicts in the movie, she nevertheless, felt the "terror" of her first writing job.

“But the terror I felt as a new writer and having to represent all women and all minorities in a writers’ room is really real," she told My Entertainment News.

“That is ripped straight from my own experience.”

Now that she's established herself and is no longer having to prove herself, Kaling is freer to express herself and continue the fight for inclusion by calling her own shots.

Kaling has a lot on her plate: launching her first Amazon Studios feature film, “Late Night”; an adaption of Four Weddings and a Funeral with a diverse cast;teaming up with Priyanka Chopra for a new Hulu series; writing a Netflix series loosely based on her own childhood; and the possibility of bringing to life a series or movie about an Indian American superhero.
and -- oh, by the way -- being a single mom.

Hulu’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, which will debut July 31 on the streaming network, has a diverse cast and presents a romance between characters from different cultures. Nathalie Emmanuel, Nikesh Patel, Rebecca Rittenhouse, John Paul Reynolds, Brandon Mychal Smith, Zoe Boyle, Sophia La Porta and Guz Khan star in the series.

“The leads are an African American woman and a British Pakistani man,” Kaling said. Ten hours will be different than two also, but will still feature the requisite weddings and funerals.

“There’s 10 episodes, four weddings, and one funeral in the course of the 10 episodes,” Kaling said.

Kaling is also teaming up with pal Priyanka Chopra for an all-new movie that combines everything we love about Crazy Rich Asians and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

According to Deadline, the duo is set to star in an upcoming comedy about a lavish Indian wedding. Inspired by Chopra's own wedding to recording artist Nick Jonas, the romcom will take place in both America and India, so expect to see loads of culture clashes.

Kaling and Dan Goor (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) will cowrite the new movie, which will likely be filmed in 2020. The pair will also serve as executive producers alongside Howard Klein (The Office). Casting hasn't been announced, yet.

Marvel's Ms Marvel is an Indian American superhero.

Perhaps her most intriguing project is one that hasn't fully materialized yet. She said in interview that she has had talks with Marvel to bring to life their comic book character Ms. Marvel, AKA Kamala Khan, an Indian American teendager, according to Deadline.
"I grew up this shy girl with absolutely no connections in Hollywood. To me, (her success) is really about being a fan," said Kaling. ... "The funny thing is no matter how successful I might be, I still wake up feeling like that person on the outside looking in."

___________________________________________________________________

Sacramento State seeks a professor in Happiness

REKHI SINGH

Everybody wants to be happy. But, not everybody is happy. Why is happiness so elusive?. Is happiness an art or a science? Can you achieve happiness by studying it? Is there a formula for happiness?

Rekhi SIngh is only too happy to seek the answers to those questions.

The Indian American businessman, entrepreneur is establishing the endowed professorship, the Rekhi Singh Endowed Professor in Happiness at Sacramento State University, where in graduated with an MBA in 1988.

The position will be housed in the Department of Psychology, with the goal of promoting happiness through academic research, curriculum development, cross-campus partnerships and other activities.

“In our time, they told us, ‘Go be successful and you’ll get happy,’ but no, it’s the other way around,” he told the Sacramento Bee. “Happy people are successful people, and in their workplace, the happy employee does a better job. They become a better citizen, and they’ll serve the community better.”

“The science of happiness is a real science,” Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen said in a statement. “I am so grateful to Rekhi for his generous gift, which will allow us to better understand happiness and how to spread it throughout the world.”

Singh did not disclose the amount of the donation, but according to the university’s guidelines for endowed professorships, the donation is at least $500,000.

Funds from this endowment will support salary, release time for the selected faculty member, research activities, travel, and operating funds to support activities to promote happiness across the campus and beyond.

Those activities may include teaching courses, conducting academic research into the science of happiness, delivering lectures and workshops, and developing curriculum incorporating happiness and well-being.

After earning his undergraduate degree, Singh knew he wanted to immigrate to the U.S.

He chose Sacramento State to work for his Master in Business Administration.

Today, Singh is chief executive officer of R Systems, a global, publicly traded company he founded that specializes in information technology. Along with his wife, Harpreet Kaur Rekhi, he is also a trustee of the Rekhi Foundation for Happiness.

“Sacramento State gave me a well-rounded education into business, and I was exposed to the U.S. culture and its way of doing things,” Singh says, adding that Nelsen’s leadership of the University was a significant motivation for his gift.

“When I look back at my life, I would not be here if it was not for Sac State and the education I got there," Singh told the campus newspaper. "That is something I feel very grateful about.”

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________