Communications of the ACM
American Dream Interrupted
The year 2018 was bad for the American Dream of thousands of budding Indian techies as the Donald Trump administration continued its clampdown on the H-1B visa, which allows qualified immigrants to work in the United States for up to six years. The qualifying criteria for the visa is getting tougher.
There is, however, a dire need for skilled talent in STEM fields. These jobs are often targeted by international students from India and China who graduate from U.S. institutions. Big tech companies — Amazon, Google, Microsoft — desperately look for STEM workers; U.S. universities too compete to attract international STEM students.
But now that H-1B visas are slowly slipping out of their grasp, should international STEM students give up their American Dream? Arindam Roy, executive director of Edxcare international, a Calcutta-based foreign education consultant, thinks not.
"Even though there has been an apparent setback, one must read between the lines of President Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric," he says. He believes the restriction on H-1B visas is actually meant to stop unskilled or low-skilled immigrants into the U.S., in order to protect American workers in the wake of an economic slump. "As there is a logical demand for highly qualified professionals in the tech industry, and for research and development positions across industries, the chances of receiving a work permit is bright for an Indian who pursues a master's followed by a Ph.D. in a STEM subject in the U.S.," Roy says.
Despite the clampdown, one in six students on U.S. campuses is Indian, Roy says. "So many top U.S. tech companies have built their fortunes on the hard labor and expertise of Indian students," he says. "Indians still form the backbone of these firms."
From The Telegraph
View Full Article
No entries found