Dismay, confusion among H-1B workers as Trump’s order triggers rush to US

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Panic, confusion and frustration emerged when the H-1B visa holders from India and China had to cancel their travel plans and the United States had to return quickly after President Donald Trump introduced new visa fees as part of his broader immigration policies.

Tech firms and banks issued immediate notice to their employees on Sunday (4:01 pm GMT) on Sunday (GMT), instructed to return before the last date at 12:01 am on Eastern Time and advised against leaving the country.

On Saturday, a White House official made it clear that the order applies only to the new applicants, not the current visa personnel or those who want renewal, addressing some confusion on who will be affected by this order.

But a day ago, Trump’s announcement had already threatened the Silicon Valley.

Hurry back to us

Fear that once a new rule was implemented, they would not be allowed to return, several Indian citizens at San Francisco Airport said they had reduced their holidays.

“This is a situation where we had to choose between a family and living here,” said an engineer from a large tech company on Friday.

The person who spoke on condition of anonymity said that after several Indian passengers, there was a delay of more than three hours after which the news or memo was received from his employers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. At least five passengers were eventually allowed, the engineer said.

A video of the incident was circulating on social media, showing that some people have been released. Reuters cannot independently confirm the truth of the video.

The engineer’s wife, who is also an H-1B visa holder, chose to go to India to take care of her ill mother. “This is quite regrettable,” he told Reuters. We have made a life here. “

On the famous Chinese social media app Red note, H -1B visas people shared their experiences to return to the United States in some cases after a few hours of landing in China or any other country.

Some people fought panic, which they felt during their experience during the Covade 19 pandemic diseases, when they returned to the United States immediately before traveling.

“My feelings are a mixture of frustration, sadness and frustration,” a woman said in a post with a user’s handle “Emily’s life in New York.”

The woman said she had boarded a United Airlines flight from New York to Paris, which had begun taxing, but after something behind the airline, the captain agreed to return to the gate to take her off the plane.

Feeling to describe Reuters as “important” and “showcase”, he canceled the French planned journey, and abandoned plans with friends, including some people who were flying from China, when he was asked by his company’s lawyers to return to the United States.

Companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, alphabet and Goldman Sex, were among them who sent their employees quick email with travel advisory.

Trump’s U-turn on H-1B

Since taking office in January, Trump has begun a widespread crackdown on immigration, including measures to restrict some forms of legal immigration.

The move to renovate the H-1B visa program represents the most high level efforts of their administration that still tries to re-work temporary employment visas, and indicates that what critics have said is a protection agenda.

This is a U-turn from Trump’s earlier position when he supported a time ally and Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of H-1B visas, saying he fully supported the program for foreign-tech workers, though some of his supporters opposed it.

Trump administration officials say visa allows companies to suppress wages, and overcoming it opens more jobs for US -tech workers. Program supporters argue that highly skilled workers are required to fill the talent difference and keep firms competitive.

In the hours after Trump’s announcement, social media was debated and intimidated by the scope of the order that many people saw as a move that dimmed America’s greed as an attractive destination to work.

An anonymous user on Redont said his life was like a “H-1B slave”. The man returned to the United States when he cut off his holiday in Tokyo, and described it as “a real life ‘sharp and furious, a reference to the Hollywood series about street racing.

Trump’s H-1B announcement: “Some employers have now misused the H-1B law and its rules for artificially suppressing wages, using widespread ways, which has resulted in a harmful labor market for American citizens.”

The announcement states that Homeland Security Secretary, Christie, can exempt applicants from the fees at their discretion.

Secretary Commerce Howard Lotnik said Friday that companies will have to pay 000 100,000 for H-1B Workers Visa, 100,000.

However, White House spokesman Crolley Lavit said in a post on Saturday that it was not an annual fee, just one time fee that applies to every request.

An engineer from a Nidia, who has been based in the United States for 10 years, told Reuters at San Francisco Airport that he was leaving Japan with his wife and a newborn baby when he heard the news and reached his return flight.

“It feels realistic,” he said. “Everything is changing in a moment.”