WASHINGTON, Nov 8: Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy is expected to co-chair the coronavirus task force which President-elect Joe Biden is going to announce on Monday.
Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then president Barack Obama in 2014.
Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration.
Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”.
The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force.
The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
“The task force… could begin meeting within days,” the daily said.
In his victory speech, Biden said that the plan will be built on a bedrock of science.
“It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern. I will spare no effort — or commitment — to turn this pandemic around,” he said.
During the campaign period, Murthy emerged as one of the top advisors of Biden on public health and coronavirus issues. Many believe that he might end up being the Health Secretary in the Biden administration.
In May, the Biden Campaign appointed congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Murthy as co-chairs to the Healthcare Task Force.
At a fund raiser organised by Indian-Americans in September which was addressed by Biden, Murthy had said that Biden is the kind of guy he would like to invite home for dinner.
“Joe Biden is the kind of guy I would love to bring home to have dinner with my mom and dad,” Murthy had said in his opening remarks, adding that some homemade ‘Masala Dasa’ would be served.
“He’s authentic. He’s real. And he says what he thinks and that’s something I really love about him… He says what’s on his mind. He’s honest and true,” he said.
Biden, he said, is a man who generally meets with his values and those values are so reliably centred around generosity and community.
“It’s who he is,” Murthy said.
At another fundraiser, Murthy said that Biden’s recognition and appreciation for immigrants and for communities like Indian-Americans is forming an incredibly important part of the backbone of the United States of America.
“This is a moment for our country when leadership matters, when values matter. When we go to the voting booth, as we think about how to build support for the candidate that will best reflect our vision and our hopes and our dreams. Let’s lead with our values. And let’s vote for the person who understands us,” Murthy said, firmly backing Biden.
The US is currently the world’s worst-hit nation from the pandemic after it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last year.
The US has reported over 9,849,000 COVID-19 cases and over 237,000 people have died, according to latest statistics from Johns Hopkins University. (PTI)
Indian-American Vivek Murthy expected to co-chair President-elect Biden’s coronavirus task force
President-elect Joe Biden pledges to unite America; calls it ‘a time to heal in America’
WASHINGTON, Nov 8: US President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to unite the country as he called it ‘a time to heal in America’, after his historic victory over Donald Trump in a bitter and closely-fought presidential election – billed as one of the most divisive in recent American history.
Trump has so far refused to concede the election that attracted a record number of Americans to cast their votes amidst the raging COVID-19 pandemic. He has announced filing multiple lawsuits against the election results.
“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States,” Biden said in his victory speech in his hometown, Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night.
Biden thanked his supporters, saying he had earned votes from the “broadest and most diverse coalition in American history.”
“I am humbled by the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me,” the 77-year-old Democrat leader told the gathering amid applause and cheers from the audience.
“The people of this nation have spoken, they’ve delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for ‘We the People’,” he said, referring to more than 74 million voters who backed him.
The Democrat leader also reached out to Trump voters, saying he would act as their president as much as he would for those who voted for him.
“I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance,” Biden said. “This is the time to heal in America.”
“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class and to make America respected around the world again, and to unite us here at home,” the President-elect said.
The 2020 US election has been billed as one of the most divisive in recent American history.
“We are not enemies. We are Americans,” Biden said.
The mandate of this election, he said, is that Americans have called on them to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of this time.
“The battle to control the virus. The battle to build prosperity. The battle to secure your family’s health care. The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.The battle to save the climate. The battle to restore decency, defend democracy, and give everybody in this country a fair shot,” he said.
Noting that he ran as a proud Democrat, Biden said that he will now be an American president. “I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me — as those who did. Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now. The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control,” he said.
“It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make. If we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate,” he said.
Biden called on the Congress to make that choice with him. The American story is about the slow, yet steady widening of opportunity, he said.
Observing that he has long talked about the battle for the soul of America, Biden sought to restore it.
“Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our better angels to prevail,” he said.
Asserting that the whole world is watching America, Biden said he believes at best America is a beacon for the globe.
“We lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: Possibilities. That in America everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them,” he said.
Biden assured Americans that his first task as President-elect is to get the raging coronavirus pandemic under control with a definite plan that will be “built on bedrock science.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 237,000 Americans and infected over 9 million others. The pandemic was a major topic of debate during the presidential campaign. Biden has repeatedly attacked Trump’s response to the pandemic.
“On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris Covid plan and convert it into an action blueprint that will start on January 20, 2021,” Biden said. “That plan will be built on bedrock science,” he added.
“I will spare no effort” to turn the COVID-19 pandemic around, he added.
Earlier in the day, major news networks declared Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election after he crossed the threshold of 270 electoral college votes to win the White House.
The news of Biden’s victory resulted in celebrations in major cities across the US including outside the White House in Washington DC. (PTI)
Safety of girls in India
Inderjeet Sambyal
In India, on the one hand, we worship our Goddesses and on another hand, we abuse our women. The crime against women is increasing at a frightening rate. No women, no matter whichever age, whichever caste and creed she belongs is not safe in India. Women have to fight for their rights starting from the mother’s womb itself, as the illegal abortion rate is high in our country. Most of the people of our society are obsessed with having a Male child to bear the torch of their pedigree. And if she survives the nine-month and came to this world, most people would avert their eyes and congratulate the parents like committing a crime. Very few people celebrate the birth of their girl child. As soon she starts growing up the list of restrictions on her increase day by day. ‘ Don’t go there’, ‘Don’t stay out till late night’, ‘ Good girls don’t answer back’, ‘ Wear respectable clothes’, these are only a few of examples a girl go through. Most of the time a girl has to give up her dream, her ambitions because of pressure from her parents. In spite of all the precautions and safety measures taken by their parents, a girl has to suffer prying eyes of roadside goons and they are harassed frequently.
Every day the pages of news are filled with news of sexual harassment and rape of women all over the country. And then started the judgment of society, “A girl should not wear short clothes, this is the reason for such an incident “. Like Really? Are you for real? What short clothes a five year and three years old wore when she was raped brutally? This is high time the society changes its way of thinking and starts thinking like an intellectual and rational-minded society it claimes to be one. Try to teach morality and respect for women to your male child. And soon will come the day when no girl will need to cover her body to just stay away from these prying eyes. Teach some humanity to your Male child so they could help some girl when she needed and not just run away. Women are not safe until you change the norms and view of society. What kind of society we are creating for our future generations. It’s time to sit back and think where we are failing as a society and try to rectify ourselves and our way of thinking .It’s always better to view a situation in its totality. Many times when we look at a situation, we tend to view only a part of it because we are already biased in our approach. Safety of girls and women in India is a grave issue. To tackle the problem, a multi-pronged tactics is required. Skewed sex-ratio, ‘commodification’ of the female body through media and other popular means, patriarchal mind-set, lax justice system etc. are some of the reasons why there is apparently an increase in incidents of assault on girls and women. First and foremost, exemplary punishment would be the best method of sending the correct message throughout the society.
Potential criminals will be deterred once they see that justice is done and it is done within a time framework. Secondly, skewed sex ratio is bound to bring crimes into picture. India needs to be educated that girls should be allowed to live. Killing girls in the womb must be stopped. Again, exemplary punishment to the offenders will go a long way in improving the situation. Advertisements, films, television serials need to portray women as human beings and not just as sex-agents. Women and girls, like all other human beings, exist for many things apart from satisfying and fulfilling needs of the body. Presently, female element is being used for ‘peppering’ the show, the advertisement or the film. It settles the female with the concept of ‘masala’ in our minds. These along with patriarchal brining up give a kind of license to the criminal’s mind to venture into the territory of violence. The entire ‘contractor ship’ of feminism in India is also doing great disservice to the cause of women in this regard. The entire feminist strata must understand that safety of an individual is primarily the responsibility of the individual herself. The state agencies have a role but that role comes after the role of the individual. In their pro-feminist paranoia, they start claiming that girls will go out at any time in the night, will definitely go for consensual sex, will put on all revealing dresses and will venture out as and when their instincts desire.
Theoretically, we should have a society that allows and respect such kind of behavior equally for both the genders but in reality it is not so. If an experienced Chief Minister says that the journalist should not have gone out all alone at two in the night or a fatherly figure from Haryana says that cellular phones should be used by girls with discretion, the feminist brigade is all claws out. They fail to see the simple common sense of a well-meaning remark. Why only girls, even boys and men should avoid going out all alone in the dead of the night. If a girl agrees to consensual sex to her boyfriend on phone and goes out in anticipation of the adventure, there are possibilities that the so called ‘boyfriend’ will turn up with two or three extras. This is exactly what has happened in many recent cases. But our discourse tragically remains lop-sided. All elderly men of Haryana are not villains. Most of them want girls and women to be safe.Education, correct representation of women in media, transparency in social interaction of the two genders, liberal and accepting attitudes, and most importantly a speedy and strong justice system will go a long way in ensuring safety of girls in our country. The amount of violence against women has increased by many fold due to the greater exposure of women in every field of life. Women were previously restricted to the four walls of the houses and after globalization they have got the chances and opportunities to stand equally in all sectors at par with male. Women are now-a- days cab drivers and they are also the CEOs of top companies. It is a good sign that the patriarchal mind set of the society has changed to some extent but not to the extent it was supposed to. It is the same mindset that restricts women to go out and work making them as a tool for domestication.
It is the same mindset that treats males as superior than female and always tries to dominate the women folk. There are different kinds of tools that are being used by the male dominated society to prove their domination over the female. Eve teasing, sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence against women are the weapons used by the male to display the male superiority. This is one of the prime reasons violence is increasing in India and women safety is a concern in India. Along with the mindset the slow pace of operation of Indian judiciary is another major reason for the increasing women safety in India. The police of India is not efficient and not neutral and that is the reason why the cases of violence against women take long time in the investigation phase. In the name of social pressure and shame many women do not come out and report the matter to police.
This is one of the many reasons why the number of cases reported are less than the actual number of violence happening against women. It is a shame that rapes take place every day. In order to improve women safety in India the first task is to improve the number of women in every sphere of society. Along with that the change in mind set of people is very essential for the safety of women. From family to educational institutions men should be taught about respecting females. Further, there should be fast-track courts to hear the cases and the cases should be investigated in a time bound manner. Only strict laws cannot solve the problem of women safety in India rather the implementation of these laws in a time bound manner can solve the issue to a large extent.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Biden administration will place high priority on strengthening Indo-US relationship: policy paper
WASHINGTON, Nov 8: The Biden administration will place high priority on strengthening the Indo-US relationship by pushing India to became a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continuing co-operation on terrorism, climate change, health and trade, according to a policy paper released by the Biden campaign during the presidential election.
Biden, 77, defeated incumbent President Donald Trump in the bitterly-fought presidential election that attracted a record number of Americans to cast their votes.
By becoming the US president, Biden has an opportunity of fulfilling his 14-year-old dream to strengthen the India-US ties that he wants to achieve in 2020.
“My dream is that in 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States. If that occurs, the world will be safer,” Biden had told the now closed down India Abroad newspaper in an interview in December 2006.
While it would be tough for him to realise this in 2020, he can definitely achieve it during his presidency starting on January 20, 2021.
A policy paper released by the Biden Campaign during the closely-fought election gave an inkling of how he wants to accomplish it.
Topping the list is pushing India to became a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continued co-operation on terrorism, strengthening ties on issues like climate change and health working towards a multi-fold increase in bilateral trade.
Biden played a lead role, both as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as Vice President in the Barack Obama administration, in systematically deepening strategic engagement, people-to-people ties, and collaboration with India on global challenges, the policy paper said.
“In 2006, Biden announced his vision for the future of US-India relations: ‘My dream is that in 2020, the two closest nations in the world will be India and the United States.’ He has also worked to make that vision a reality, including leading the charge in Congress, working with Democrats and Republicans, to approve the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008,” it said.
According to the policy paper, he will deliver on his long-standing belief that India and the US are natural partners, and a Biden administration will place a high priority on continuing to strengthen the US-India relationship.
“No common global challenge can be solved without India and the US working as responsible partners. Together, we will continue strengthening India’s defense and capabilities as a counter-terrorism partner, improving health systems and pandemic response, and deepening cooperation in areas such as higher education, space exploration, and humanitarian relief,” it said.
“As the world’s oldest and largest democracies, the US and India are bound together by our shared democratic values: fair and free elections, equality under the law, and the freedom of expression and religion. These core principles have endured throughout each of our nations’ histories and will continue to be the source of our strength in the future,” it said.
Noting that the Obama-Biden administration continued to deepen collaboration between India and the US on strategic, defense, economic, regional, and global challenges, the policy paper said that Biden was a major champion of growing and expanding the US-India partnership.
“Recognising India’s growing role on the world stage, the Obama-Biden administration formally declared US support for India’s membership in a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council. The Obama-Biden Administration also named India a “Major Defense Partner” – a status approved by the Congress – to ensure that when it comes to the advanced and sensitive technology that India needs to strengthen its military, India is treated on par with our closest partners,” it said.
“President Obama and Vice President Biden also strengthened our cooperation with India to fight terrorism in each of our countries and across the region. Biden believes there can be no tolerance for terrorism in South Asia – cross-border or otherwise. A Biden Administration will also work with India to support a rules-based and stable Indo-Pacific region in which no country, including China, is able to threaten its neighbours with impunity,” his campaign said.
“The Obama-Biden Administration worked closely with India to secure the successful signing of the Paris Climate Agreement to address the global climate crisis that threatens all our peoples,” it said.
“A Biden administration would bring the US back into the Paris Agreement, giving us the ability to again work closely with India to fight climate change and once more work hand in hand to reduce our carbon emissions and secure our clean energy future, without which we cannot build the green economy we need,” it said.
In the 2006 interview, Biden before taking over the chairmanship of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee had argued that India-US relationship is the single-most important relationship that the US has to get right for its own safety’s sake.
“There’s so many decades to overcome — some mistrust, some suspicion. The truth of the matter is that notwithstanding the fact that President Bush has followed on from (former president Bill) Clinton and reached out, there is still a lot of scepticism about Bush and his foreign policy ability in India. So there is a lot to overcome,” he said.
“This is the single most important development in my view, that’s occurred in the last 20 years with regard to India and it’s the basis upon which we can begin to build…,” he said. (PTI)
Tata Motors aims to have widest portfolio of SUV in domestic market
New Delhi, Nov 8: Tata Motors aims to have the widest portfolio of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the domestic market, a move aimed at helping the company muster greater market share in the passenger vehicle segment, according to a top company official.
The auto major, which currently sells models like Nexon and Harrier in the SUV segment, is also looking to overhaul its entire sales, aftersales and service verticals to enhance the overall buying experience for customers.
“The move to shift to SUVs is very clear. There is a shift happening towards the SUV segment not only in India but globally also. In 2015 the share of SUVs in the domestic market used to be only 15 per cent but this year it is around 30 per cent,” Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Business Unit President Shailesh Chandra told PTI.
It is therefore imperative that whosoever has greater share of SUVs in the portfolio will have a greater pie, share of the market, he added.
“So we have taken note of that sometime back and accordingly targeted to have the widest SUV portfolio,” Chandra said.
Both Nexon and Harrier were doing great in the market in terms of sales numbers, he noted.
“Harrier has seen a significant jump from what we were doing last year on the back of the new automatic version we have come out with. Nexon did its highest ever sales last month and I hope it continues to do well,” Chandra said.
The company is now gearing up to roll out two new models in the portfolio.
“Going forward two additional models are going to come- Gravitas and Hornbill (codenames). Gravitas will be a seven-seater SUV while Hornbill will be a sub compact SUV so we will have four SUVs in our portfolio which would be the widest portfolio,” Chandra said.
Hornbill with a very aggressive position at one end and Gravitas at the other end, the company with four products would be well poised to tap the growing trend towards SUVs, he noted.
“It would help strengthen our market position and sales in the coming years,” Chandra said.
The company plans to launch the Gravitas during the last quarter of this fiscal. It is yet to fix a date for the Hornbill introduction.
Chandra said the company is focusing a lot on improving the sales and aftersales experience for its customers.
“For us it is one of the key areas on our agenda to transform. A whole bit of work has started with focus on how we can enhance the whole experience. The employees are being imparted soft skills apart from technical training,” he noted.
The company is also focusing on the issues with its dealer partners including their financial health and profitability, Chandra said.
“There have been instances of too many channel partners in one territory. There have been issues, so we are comprehensively going territory wise and seeing the health of the network. The second focus is reach and penetration, whether it meets our growth aspirations which we have for that specific territory,” he noted.
The company has over 800 dealerships for its passenger vehicle portfolio across the country. (PTI)
Biden administration likely to provide US citizenship to over 500,000 Indians
WASHINGTON, Nov 8: US President-elect Joe Biden will work towards providing a roadmap to American citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 500,000 from India, and will also establish a minimum admission number of 95,000 refugees annually.
As a largely immigrant community, but in some cases with American roots reaching back generations, Indian-Americans know firsthand the strength and resilience that immigrants bring to the United States of America, according to a policy document issued by the Biden campaign.
“He (Biden) will immediately begin working with Congress to pass legislative immigration reform that modernises our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants — including more than 500,000 from India,” it said.
The Biden administration will support family-based immigration and preserve family unification as a core principle of the US’ immigration system, which includes reducing the family visa backlog, it said.
“And, he will increase the number of refugees we welcome into this country by setting the annual global refugee admissions target to 125,000 and seek to raise it over time commensurate with our responsibility, our values, and the unprecedented global need. He will also work with Congress to establish a minimum admissions number of 95,000 refugees annually,” the policy document said.
Biden will remove the uncertainty for Dreamers by reinstating the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) programme and explore all legal options to protect their families from inhumane separation. And, he will end workplace raids and protect other sensitive locations from immigration enforcement actions, it said.
Launched by the Obama administration, the DACA is an immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the US after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the US. DACA recipients are often referred to as Dreamers. To be eligible for the programme, recipients cannot have felonies or serious misdemeanours on their records.
The Trump administration moved to end the DACA programme in 2017 and was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court from doing so this year. Even so, his administration scaled back the programme and pledged to end it, leaving thousands of the programme’s beneficiaries in limbo.
Biden will also restore and defend the naturalisation process for green card holders, the policy document said.
Employment-based visas, also known as green cards, allow migrants to gain lawful permanent residence in the US in order to engage in skilled work.
“He (Biden) will increase the number of visas offered for permanent, work-based immigration based on macroeconomic conditions and exempt from any cap recent graduates of PhD programmes in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields,” it said.
“He will support first reforming the temporary visa system for high-skill, specialty jobs to protect wages and workers, then expanding the number of visas offered and eliminating the limits on employment-based green cards by country, which have kept so many Indian families in waiting for too long,” the document stated.
The Biden administration, it said, will also repeal President Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban”.
President Trump had imposed a controversial travel ban, often referred to by critics as a “Muslim ban”, on several Muslim majority countries, including Iran and Syria, through a series of executive orders.
“Biden will rescind Trump’s “Muslim ban” on day one and reverse the detrimental asylum policies that are causing chaos and a humanitarian crisis at our border,” the policy document said. (PTI)
M-cap of nine of top-10 most valued firms zooms over Rs 2.30 lakh cr
New Delhi, Nov 8: The combined market valuation of nine of the top-10 most valued companies zoomed by Rs 2,30,219.82 crore last week, with HDFC twins leading the pack.
During the last week, Sensex soared 2,278.99 points or 5.75 per cent.
Barring Reliance Industries Ltd, the country’s most valued firm, all nine companies witnessed rise in their market valuation for the trading week closed on Friday.
The market capitalisation of HDFC Bank jumped by Rs 68,430.18 crore to Rs 7,19,948.29 crore, emerging as the biggest gainer among the most valued companies.
The valuation of HDFC zoomed by Rs 38,484.05 crore to reach Rs 3,83,771.94 crore and that of ICICI Bank gained Rs 34,892.98 crore to Rs 3,05,629.04 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s market cap jumped by Rs 33,649.7 crore to Rs 3,39,980.79 crore and Infosys added Rs 22,489.7 crore to take its valuation to Rs 4,74,242.93 crore.
The mcap of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose by Rs 16,285.35 crore to Rs 10,16,239.59 crore.
Bharti Airtel’s valuation rose by Rs 8,810.72 crore to Rs 2,45,363.69 crore and Hindustan Unilever gained by Rs 5,169.03 crore to reach Rs 4,92,067.57 crore.
Also, HCL Technologies added Rs 2,008.11 crore to Rs 2,30,824.35 crore.
In contrast, the valuation of Reliance Industries tanked by Rs 17,141.77 crore to Rs 13,72,017.43 crore.
In the ranking of top-10 firms, RIL retained the most valued company tag followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, Infosys, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies. (PTI)
Biden plans to increase H-1B visa limit and remove country quota for green cards
Washington, Nov 8: US President-elect Joe Biden plans to increase the number of high-skilled visas, including the H-1B, and eliminate the limit on employment-based visas by country, both of which are expected to benefit tens of thousands of Indian professionals impacted by some immigration policies of the outgoing Trump administration.
With Kamala Harris as his deputy, Biden is expected to reverse the move of the outgoing Trump administration to revoke work permits to the spouses of H-1B visas, which had adversely impacted a large number of Indian families in the US.
All these are part of a comprehensive immigration reform that the Biden administration plans to work on, either in one go or in separate pieces.
“High skilled temporary visas should not be used to disincentivise recruiting workers already in the US for in-demand occupations. An immigration system that crowds out high-skilled workers in favour of only entry level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness,” according to a policy document issued by the Biden campaign.
“Biden will work with Congress to first reform temporary visas to establish a wage-based allocation process and establish enforcement mechanisms to ensure they are aligned with the labour market and not used to undermine wages. Then, Biden will support expanding the number of high-skilled visas and eliminating the limits on employment-based visas by country, which create unacceptably long backlogs,” it said.
H-1B visas, which expand the available pool of high skilled workers in the US, is a non-immigrant visa that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Employment-based visas, also known as green cards, allow migrants to gain lawful permanent residence in the US in order to engage in skilled work.
Noting that currently, the number of employment-based visas is capped at 140,000 each year, without the ability to be responsive to the state of the labour market or demands from domestic employers, the policy document said that as president, Biden will work with Congress to increase the number of visas awarded for permanent, employment-based immigration — and promote mechanisms to temporarily reduce the number of visas during times of high US unemployment.
In June, Trump had suspended the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to protect American workers. In October, the Trump administration had announced new restrictions on the H-1B nonimmigrant visa programme, which it said is aimed at protecting American workers, restoring integrity and to better guarantee that H-1B petitions are approved only for qualified beneficiaries and petitioners.
According to the policy document, Biden will also exempt from any cap recent graduates of PhD programmes in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields in the US who are poised to make some of the most important contributions to the world economy.
“Biden believes that foreign graduates of a US doctoral programme should be given a green card with their degree and that losing these highly trained workers to foreign economies is a disservice to our own economic competitiveness,” it said.
The Biden administration plans to create a new visa category to allow cities and counties to petition for higher levels of immigrants to support their growth.
“The disparity in economic growth between US cities, and between rural communities and urban areas, is one of the great imbalances of today’s economy. Some cities and many rural communities struggle with shrinking populations, an erosion of economic opportunity, and local businesses that face unique challenges.
“Others simply struggle to attract a productive workforce and innovative entrepreneurs. As president, Biden will support a programme to allow any county or municipal executive of a large or midsize county or city to petition for additional immigrant visas to support the region’s economic development strategy, provided employers in those regions certify there are available jobs, and that there are no workers to fill them,” the policy document said.
The holders of these visas would be required to work and reside in the city or county that petitioned for them, and would be subject to the same certification protections as other employment-based immigrants, it argued.
According to the policy document, Biden believes that keeping families together and allowing eligible immigrants to join their American relatives on US soil is critically important, but the current system is poorly designed with per-country caps that prevent applications from being approved in a timely fashion.
That means approved applicants may wait decades to be reunited with their families, it said.
“As president, Biden will support family-based immigration by preserving family unification as a foundation of our immigration system; by allowing any approved applicant to receive a temporary non-immigrant visa until the permanent visa is processed; and by supporting legislation that treats the spouse and children of green card holders as the immediate relatives they are, exempting them from caps, and allowing parents to bring their minor children with them at the time they immigrate,” the policy paper said. (PTI)