Not many girls in Tech? Wait till Trump's latest work-ban on Spouses of H1 Visa holders takes effect

The topic of – or lack of – women in the hi-tech world is a topic of perennial discussion. The Trump administration's latest move to roll-back USCIS policy of issuing work-authorization to spouses of H1 is likely to hit women, many of them hi-tech workers themselves.

The current USCIS policy allows H-1B visa holders who have applied for lawful permanent residence (green card) to apply for a work-authorization for their spouse. Ref : Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses.

Image result for h1 worker
image source: kqed.org

The Department of Homeland Security, which announced the review of the rule, did not specify why. A brief memo from the agency just said that it was reviewing the rule in light of Mr Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” executive order.

While USCIS does not track or publish data on the sex of spouses benefiting from this policy, empirical data suggest that a vast majority of spouses of H1 Holders tends to be of the fairer sex. Media reports suggest that "Rescinding the authorization will disproportionately affect Indian nationals, who take up the bulk of H-1B visas and have one of the longest green card backlogs." (the Guardian)

Young, educated Indian women agree to marry H1 visa holders in the hopes of migrating to America, and eventually working there. Such H1 grooms are still prized, though the allure is certainly coming off thanks to Trump's policies.

Many spouses of H1 workers tend to be techies themselves and give up their jobs and careers to migrate and live with their spouses. The entry of such foreign born women into the American tech-workforce helped improve the statistics in the Silicon Valley and in other tech belts.


One is likely to see an immediate reversal in the statistics after Trump's H1 spouse-worker ban takes effect.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Man accused of groping woman in Bangalore metro claims he did not intend to touch her, but accidentally did so while attempting to pickpocket

Image
Bengaluru | December 9: A techie claims she was groped by a man on the Namma Metro Train while she was alighting at the Metro on  Thursday . She immediately raised an alarm and the security managed to nab the accused.  On  Thursday  morning, a 22-year-old techie took a Metro from Rajajinagar station to reach her office. While she was stepping out of the metro to switch lines at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Metro Station, a man touched her inappropriately from behind. She got down and screamed.  The accused hopped onto an escalator to flee the spot but the alert security managed to apprehend him.  They subsequently handed him over to the police. Preliminary investigations indicated that the man had a history of offences, primarily in theft cases.  The accused has been identified as 30-year-old Lokesh who works in the catering industry.   He had been previously arrested by officers from the same police station for a theft-related  incident.  The man claimed that he did not intend to touch the w
Read more

Checklist: What to do after death of a Parent or loved one?

Image
With a death in the family, survivors may have to come to grips with the stark reality: how to move forward after the death. While the grieving process can take time, one also must address several documentation, paperwork and other formalities. Here are a few things that you will have to follow up on: To Do Immediately After Someone Dies Inform loved ones, family and friends Arrange for a funeral - depending on your custom and current regulations and wishes of the deceased, you will have to plan for the final rites Plan for after death ceremonies - this will depend on your customs (e.g  After death ceremonies – Brahmin Iyer ) Apply for a  death certificate . This is the most important legal step and may be a two-step process The hospital, crematorium or burial ground officials may issue a letter/document with the name of deceased and cause of death.  The letter/document needs to be submitted to the local municipal/corporation office that will ‘record’ the death and issue an ‘official’
Read more

Lessons from the story about Bengaluru Techie being extorted by rogue cops - Use social media judiciously to help those in need

Image
Lessons from the story about Bangalore Techie being extorted - Let’s use social media judiciously to help those in need I was fascinated to see a thread of complaint posted by @vpatilav , a 22 year old intern from Himachal Pradesh who tweeted about being extorted by a couple of cops. His Twitter thread explained how he was illegally detained and extorted by cops while returning home after a late-night shift. The two cops on night duty allegedly planted a small twig of ganja (marijuana) in the youth’s bag and threatened to implicate him in a drug related case. They asked for cash in return for ‘letting him go.’ The techie paid them about Rs 2,500 before he could walk away. The distraught techie took to social media the next day and the story blew up on Reddit (thread) and elsewhere.  What was intriguing was that  @vpatilav , abruptly deleted the thread saying “Police was looking into the matter.” This led to speculation that he was being harassed for “falsely” accusing cops. Dear
Read more