H-1B visa holders, dejected by the judgement of Judge Amit P Mehta over their US entry, are now pinning hopes on the second lawsuit that is coming up for hearing on September 11.
The first lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Mehta, in his judgement, had rejected the argument of the visa holders that the US President overrode his authority while banning their entry.
On June 22, US President Donald Trump, through an executive order, banned the entry of foreign nationals into the country till the year-end. This included the entry of non-immigrant workers using H-1B, L-1, J-1 and H-2B visas and their dependents.
The second lawsuit against this order was filed by the US Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups against Mehta’s proclamation banning the entry of non-immigrant workers such as H-1B, L-1 and H-2B visa holders.
What did the ruling say?
Mehta, in a detailed 85-page ruling, rejected the plaintiffs’ statutory and constitutional challenges to the proclamations and said that the exceptions do not override the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Quoting the new guidelines issued by the Department of State on August 12, the ruling said: “H-1B visa holders qualify for the exception if, among other things, they are seeking to resume ongoing employment in the United States in the same position with the same employer and visa classification, or are technical specialists, senior level managers, and other workers whose travel is necessary to facilitate the immediate and continued economic recovery of the United States.”
The decision as to whether they qualify or not is left to the consular officials.
“It may be a fair criticism that these exceptions are overly narrow and indiscriminately exclude large numbers of aliens seeking entry into the US. But these exceptions demonstrate that the proclamations do not “expressly override” any “particular” provision of the INA,” the judgement said.
When there are provisions for non-US citizens to travel to the US, the argument that these proclamations add burdensome conditions to their entry is not a valid objection, he said.
Disappointed H-1B workers
This has left H-1B visa holders and their spouses disappointed. They are now pinning their hopes on the second lawsuit. They are now in India and are unable to go back to US due to the restrictions.
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, there are about 1.3 lakh H-1B workers in the US.
While some of them have been able to get their visas approved after the recent relaxations, there are many who might not be eligible. The lawsuit was an attempt to help all those stuck overseas to get back to the US.
What is the second lawsuit about?
It is the lawsuit filed by the US Chamber of Commerce and other trade organisations like the National Association of Manufacturers and National Retail Federation in July against the June 22 proclamation. This is coming up for hearing in the San Francisco Federal Court.
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the ban on non-immigrant visas availed by engineers, senior executives, IT experts and other critical workers that the businesses employ.
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