A new federal reform proposes allowing spouses of highly-skilled immigrant workers (H1B visa holders) the right to work. The law will overturn the largely oppressive treatment spouses on the H4 visa category face.
The reform will affect close to 100,000 people who can finally get back to applying for jobs after months, if not years, of having to sit out of the workforce.
Many H4 dependents, majority women, are consigned to being unemployed once they move to the U.S. In their home countries they were often high-earning, largely independent workers. But after moving to the U.S., they’re unable to work or even open an individual bank account. They’re ineligible to get a social security number and find it prohibitively difficult to get a driver’s license. Their rights have been compared with those of women living in some of the most oppressive parts of the world.
It’s surprising that America – champion of gender equality around the world – has for so long restricted so many talented women from becoming financially and, in some cases, physically independent. Women who can’t drive are often at the mercy of their husband’s schedules to leave the house.
Vivek Wadhwa, academic and author of The Immigrant Exodus says he’s glad to see the reform, though more is needed. “This is a human rights issue,” he says. “How can a civilized country such as America hold back women the way it has?”
Critics against the reform are equally vocal. There’s been significant backlash, after the Department of Homeland Security opened a forum for public comments on this reform.
The social implications of unemployed women
People who may benefit from the reform have been through years of hardship since they entered the country. Janani Vaidyanathan is one such example. She moved to Seattle from India in 2012 for her husband’s job and has been unable to work for the past year and a half. Vaidyanathan holds an MBA and microbiology undergrad, and worked for six years as a HR manager for a global hotel company back in India. Despite her qualifications and work experience, she’s unable to secure a job once a company she interviews with learns of her visa status.
Not being able to work has “made me doubt my own capabilities,” she says. “Emotionally, I felt that I faltered in making better career choices, which also, sadly, contradicted with my personal life’s decisions.” Financially, her family has suffered after going from a joint-income household, to having to rely solely on her husband’s paycheck. Vaidyanathan says it is “logical” that someone with her qualifications should be given an opportunity to accomplish “the American Dream.”
“I would really like to use the chance, if given, to contribute to this country, by restarting my professional career and eventually try to set up my own company here,” she says.
Some H4 holders battle depression, and support groups have been set up to encourage people that live in what has been dubbed the “golden cage.” Often, whole families relocate back to their home countries for this reason. As a result, the U.S. economy loses not just one, but the potential of two capable workers.
America’s competitiveness is at stake with this broken system
In a global economy, the talent pool now operates on a global scale. No longer should the U.S. remain confined to a narrow, navel-gazing focus when competing nations believe in hiring the best, regardless of their passport.
If current H4 visa holders have the skills and qualifications, why should they not be able to compete on equal footing same as other job candidates? American law commits to banning discrimination by race, religion or gender, but how has this particular type of discrimination continued for so long?
The reform will not jeopardize American jobs. In fact, it’s likely to help alleviate the severe skill shortages we face in sectors like technology.
There’s high demand for specialized IT skills all over the nation, according to Molly Kane, Seattle market director for IT recruiting firm Harvey Nash USA. Unfortunately finding candidates to fill these positions is challenging, in part because of the current immigration system.
The Dark Costs Of Denying Highly-Skilled Immigrant Spouses The Right to Work
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