Kamala Harris Immigration Policy: How She Could Make It Easier for You to Move to the U.S.
The Kamala Harris Immigration Policy would drastically change the climate for immigrants and students if she were to take over in 2025. She has always supported amicable immigration policies and reforms that present equal opportunities to the merited foreign workers and students. These changes could make the United States an even more exciting area for all who wish to move and live, work, or study there.
In this blog, we will discuss in detail how Kamala Harris’s presidency may offer an easy route towards moving to the United States of America for skilled workers, families, and international students.
Legal Immigration Under a Harris Presidency
1. H-1B visa program expansion
One of the important areas where Kamala Harris might introduce changes is in the H-1B visa program. Being a proponent of skilled immigration, Harris may advocate increasing the quota for H-1B visas issued every year and simplifying the application process. During her reign, efforts may be made to make this selection process more transparent and nondiscriminatory. This will reduce the long wait times and backlogs that many applicants currently face.
2. Seamless processing of the L-1 Visa in Intracompany transfer cases
The L-1 visa program allows for the transfer of skilled employees of international companies to their affiliates in the United States. Harris should support legislation that removes bureaucratic hurdles to the easy transfer of workers across borders within multinational companies. In addition to this, it could also move protectionist legislation to ensure that such visa holders are paid decent wages and enjoy decent working conditions.
3. Clear Pathway to Citizenship
Harris is likely to focus more sharply on a clearer and quicker way to U.S. citizenship. She may propose reforms that allow immigrants who already possess work visas or DACA to get permanent residence status and, after a while, complete citizenship. Such policies will grant more stability to those immigrants who contribute productively to the U.S. economy and society.
Family-Based Immigration and Reunification
1. Emphasise Family Reunification
Harris has championed family reunification for a long time. As president, she could make this a priority by increasing the categories of family members allowed to be sponsored and reducing the wait times for family-based green cards. By reversing the previous restrictions, it would be much easier for families to unite and for America’s shores to become friendlier toward immigrants.
2. Green Cards based on Employment
With the Harris administration, we might expect more work-based green cards issued annually. She could also call for scrapping the country-specific cap that long has barred the way to immigrants hailing from high-demand countries such as India and China. These will help in making the playing field for many skilled workers who have been aspiring to permanent residency in the U.S.
International Students: A Welcoming Environment
1. Paving the Way for Foreign Students
Kamala Harris would go about ensuring a friendlier environment for international students. Her policies may range from streamlining the procedure related to obtaining a visa to eliminating superfluous hurdles that hamper the progress of students around the globe. This will make the United States even more attractive to students who would want to pursue their higher education in the country.
2. H-1B Transition after Graduation
Harris might particularly emphasise how her administration will make life easier for students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by making the transition from OPT to long-term work visas such as H-1B less of a hurdle. This would be achieved by expanding OPT or creating new paths leading STEM graduates to green cards upon graduation.
3. Continued Support for Higher Education
It is likely that a Harris administration would do even more to support U.S. universities in increasing their draw and support for international students. This may include additional financing of programs concerning diversity and inclusion, initiatives that guarantee the success of international students both academically and professionally.
Conclusion: A More Inclusive Immigration System
Under Kamala Harris, the U.S. presidency would likely make immigration a tipping point for opening up to legal immigrants and international students. She could help build a more receptive and diverse American society by expanding visa programs, reducing and smoothing out the pathway to citizenship, and making the U.S. more receptive for international students.
