A key United States Republican Senator, Mike Lee, brought to attention how country-based green card caps are 'discriminatory' towards Indians.
"Today, if you are a work-based immigrant from India entering into the EB-2 green card application process, you will wait almost 200 years before your application is even considered solely because of where you were born – almost two hundred years on a waiting list!", exclaimed Lee in the chamber.
At present, there is a 7 percent per-country cap on Green Cards. What this means is that no single nation can receive more than 7 percent of the total green cards issued in a year, creating a massive backlog.
“If you are born anywhere else – anywhere else other than China; say in Ghana, Sweden, Indonesia – basically any other country other than India, your [Green Card] application will be considered immediately.”Senator Mike Lee
"This sort of discrimination is simply inconsistent with the principles of an America-based immigration system and with our founding principles and the principles that unite us as Americans", he further stated.
In the recent past, Lee has argued that without a reform in the American immigration system, wait times for Indians applying for Green Cards could be up to 450 years by 2030.
Lee has sought Unanimous Consent of the chamber to pass the High-Skilled Immigrations Act to eliminate the 7 percent country-based cap that currently exists on Green Card applications.
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