Indian H-1B Visa Holders In US Face Layoffs As Coronavirus Topples Economy
Source: HUFFPOST | Apr 07, 2020
Original News Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/indian-h1b-layoffs-us-economy-coronavirus_in_5e8c371ac5b6e1d10a694bf2
Boston, Massachusetts — Divyanshu Pandey, a Duke University graduate, received his H-1B sponsorship in September 2019, 当时在达拉斯一家科技和租赁行业初创公司担任业务运营分析师, Texas, 一周前，由于全球新型冠状病毒大流行导致经济突然放缓，他被解雇了.
“As hard as it is for me, if I was in the company’s position, I would do the same,” said Pandey, 当疫情袭击美国时，他的公司正在进行a轮融资.
自3月初以来，美国申请失业救济的人数激增了3000%. In just the last week, 6.6 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, according to data released by the country’s Bureau of Labour Statistics. 诺贝尔经济学奖得主克鲁格曼(Paul Krugman)预测，未来两周，失业率可能进一步上升至创纪录的20%.
As the US economy slows, H-1B签证持有者——其中四分之三是印度人——在一场肆虐的流行病中面临着失去工作和医疗保险的前景. As of date, the United States has the largest number of coronavirus cases in the world, with over 360,000 confirmed infections and almost 11,000 deaths according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The laid-off workers, 谁将不再能够获得雇主提供的医疗保险, now have just 60 days to find a similar full-time job or leave the country.
Dan Nandan, the CEO of Hire IT People Inc., a recruitment company in New Jersey, 据估计，随着危机的恶化，超过20-25%的H-1B雇员可能会失去工作，并在未来几周内被迫回国. Just in the past two weeks, 南丹已经收到了150个H-1B签证申请者的求职电话和简历. This is up from just 2-3 calls a month earlier.
“美国公司可以让美国公民休假(临时无薪休假或减少工作时间)，但要让持有H-1B签证的员工休假, 他们必须确保他们在这40个小时的工作中都在工资单上，而且他们的工资是一样的，不能少,” said Kevin Pinto, a product manager from Mumbai, India, 她是两周前被波士顿一家中型科技公司解雇的众多国际员工之一, Massachusetts, a day before he finished two years in the company. “对公司来说，把国际学生和持有h - 1b签证的人放在一边很方便.”
Indians tend to be the single largest beneficiary of the H-1B visa programme. Two thirds of all H-1B registrants this year were Indian, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) department. H-1B计划是一种非移民工作许可，允许美国雇主雇佣外籍工人从事专业职业. 亚马逊、微软和谷歌等科技巨头往往是获得H1-B签证最多的公司.
The US Tech Workers, a non-profit body representing American tech workers, 鉴于失业率迅速上升，已经要求唐纳德·特朗普总统暂停今年的H1-B签证计划. H-1B rejections had already skyrocketed under the Trump administration, rising from 6% in 2015 to 21% in 2019, according to the National Foundation for American Policy. This includes both new employment and “continuing” employment. 那些继续雇佣的人——包括在同一家公司工作的延期或更换/调动雇主——的拒绝率现在是2015年的四倍.
“These are not just immigrants, these are the doctors and nurses treating patients without PPE gears, 这些是软件工程师，他们使银行能够正常运作，并构建软件，使人们能够在家工作，并使经济运行, these are researchers working towards a cure,” said Aman Kapoor, the president of Immigration Voice, a non-profit organization working on Indian immigration issues. “Imagine if 15,000 Indian doctors had to suddenly leave the country.”
卡普尔认为，新一波H-1B签证的裁员是一个更大的移民问题的征兆，在这个问题上，高技能的印度移民需要60年以上的时间才能获得美国的合法永久居留权，这给了他们的雇主充足的时间来裁员或经济形势发生变化. Public policy think-tank CATO Institute estimates that around 200,000 Indians could die of old age while waiting for their green cards.
Joblessness and the 60-day clock
持H-1B签证失去工作可能是毁灭性的:签证持有人没有资格获得失业救济金，因为获得这些救济金取决于雇员是否有资格获得未来的工作. 他们必须在未来60天内找到一份类似的全职工作，或者离开这个国家.
失业的H-1B持有人在因COVID-19住院期间也将失去雇主提供的医疗保险, the illness caused by the coronavirus, could cost up to $72,000 according to an estimate by the Washington Post. H-1B workers are also ineligible for Medicaid, 向低资产人群提供医疗保险的联邦政府方案.
Pandey, the Duke graduate who was laid off, 是否担心在60天的宽限期内将他的H-1B身份转移到另一家公司会非常困难, given the hiring freezes.
“Even if I were to find a company willing to hire me, the recruitment and hiring process alone might take four weeks,” he said.
A petition in the White House by Hire IT People’s Dan Nandan, 推动将宽限期延长至180天，让员工有更好的机会找到另一份工作, has attracted almost 45,000 signatures thus far. It needs 100,000 by April 18, 2020, to warrant a response from The White House.
“大多数H1B工人来自印度，不能带着美国公民的孩子回家.随着包括印度在内的许多国家宣布禁止美国公民入境，”请愿书写道.
As of now, Kevin Pinto和Divyanshu Pandey都不能回国，因为印度已经宣布在4月14日之前禁止所有国际航班(货运除外), 2020. 如果旅行禁令延长，平托和潘迪可能会发现自己的签证过期了.
On April 2, 2020, the Consulate General of India, New York, 发布了一份旅行建议，称目前没有疏散航班将印度公民带回印度.
“你必须明白，这不是一个可以通过疏散来解决的问题. How many people can you evacuate? The numbers are in hundreds of thousands, if not millions,总领事Sandeep Chakravorty在Facebook上接受ITV Gold直播采访时说. “Secondly, who will you give priority? There are all kinds of people who are here: there are students, there are tourists, 有老人和病人从印度来与家人共度时光.”
到目前为止，美国公民及移民服务局对签证到期的问题还没有明确的表态. A few days ago, 国土安全部的一名高级官员曾表示，人们可以向美国公民及移民服务局申请签证延期，并期望他们的请求“被美国公民及移民服务局积极接受”，如果申请延期，飞往他们国家的航班无法运营. If flights are available and the applicant’s visa period is coming to an end, they will be expected to return home, the official added.
作者是一名印度裔自由记者和研究员，目前居住在波士顿.
