Mumbai: The latest changes in work visa rules is not aimed at Indians, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said, playing down concerns.
Through these measures, the US is prioritising American workers and national interests, Rubio said while speaking to India Today News during his India visit.
“It’s not one that’s built on India. It’s not one that’s focused on India…It happens to impact Indians that want to come to the United States and work and that our businesses are trying to bring in, but it’s not geared towards India. It is global,” Rubio said.
“The United States has had a broken immigration system…We’ve had business-related immigration programmes that in many cases have been rampant fraud and abuse and have been misused in ways that have not made sense. So these things have to be addressed and we’re trying to address them, but they’re not aimed at India. They apply to any country, every country in the world,” Rubio added.
The US government, on October 9, suspended some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, which include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from the Permanent Labour Certification Program (Green Card). The US labour department attributed the suspension to multiple active federal investigations, even as it also suspended US tech majors Microsoft and Adobe from the program.
The companies named had collectively sought millions of foreign workers and received hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa approvals and permanent labour certifications, the department said.
The announcement came shortly after the US Department of Homeland Security proposed new fees for F-1 non-immigrant students seeking to participate in Optional Practical Training (OPT), describing the measure as an effort to protect American workers and strengthen the integrity of the immigration system.
Rubio, however, said that all these steps are aimed at merely protecting American workers and putting their interests first.
“I expect that the government of India will always put the people of India first and that you will always put the national interest of India first…But I also hope everyone understands that the United States under President Trump is going to put our people first, our workers first and our country first,” he said.
The movement of skilled professionals’ benefits both India and the United States by supporting innovation, research, productivity and job creation, India has emphasised. It has also highlighted that recent measures announced by the US government do not support the shared objectives of the two countries.