Two influential lawmakers from California have introduced legislation in the US House of Representatives to protect work authorisation of H-4 visa workers, a significant number of whom are Indian-American women.

The introduction of such legislation comes days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it would publish this month the long-promised regulation that would prevent the work authorisation to spouses on H-4 visas.

H-4 visas are issued to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significantly large number of whom are high-skilled professionals from India.

This week, the Trump administration announced plans to overturn current the DHS regulations that allow certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders who are stuck in green card backlogs to obtain employment authorisation, pursue their own professional goals and contribute to the US economy, said the lawmakers Anna G Eshoo and Zoe Lofgren.

Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled professionals, and the DHS previously extended eligibility for employment authorisation to them recognising the economic burdens of families of many H-1B workers, particularly those who live in high-cost areas like Silicon Valley on a single income as they await green card approvals, they said.

Since the rule was implemented, over 100,000 workers, mainly women, have received employment authorisation, and the H-4 Employment Protection Act prohibits the Trump administration from revoking this important rule.

“H-4 visa holders deserve a chance to contribute to their local economies and provide for their families,” Eshoo said.

“This is a matter of economic fairness and this legislation ensures it will continue,” she added.

H-4 visa holders had obtained work permits under a special order issued by the previous Obama administration. Indian-Americans were a major beneficiary of this provision. More than one lakh H-4 visa holders have been beneficiary of this rule.

“While the Trump administration sits on its hands and does nothing, American citizens in-waiting are stuck in line for their number to come up,” Lofgren said.

“Nobody benefits from this system, least of all the American economy when H-1B dependent spouses are prohibited from working. Many of these are accomplished and qualified individuals whose skills we’ll lose to other countries unless the Administration finds a more sensible approach to immigration,” she said.

Last November, Eshoo and Lofgren originally introduced the H-4 Employment Protection Act.

In March 2018, Eshoo and Lofgren led 13 Members of Congress in writing to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, urging her to reconsider DHS’s proposal to revoke eligibility for employment authorisation to H-4 dependent spouses.

A 2015 rule issued by the Obama administration allows work permits for spouses who otherwise could not be employed while H-1B visa holders seek permanent resident status, a process that can take a decade or longer.

The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has been talking about cracking down on the H- 1B visa scheme.

During his election campaign, President Trump promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to prevent its abuse.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that he is planning to put an end to what he called the “ridiculous” law that grants citizenship to all children born in US territory.

“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the US… with all of those benefits,” Trump said in an interview with the online daily Axios, reports Efe.

Trump did not mention the fact that more than two dozen other countries, including Mexico and Canada, also have similar laws authorising citizenship for anyone born in their territory.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” he added.

During the 2016 election campaign, Trump had explored this idea, although experts say that he will face significant obstacles and unleash a prolonged legal battle if he tries to implement it since birthright citizenship is an explicit part of the Constitution.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states: “All persons born or naturalised in the US and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the US and of the state wherein they reside.”

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump said, adding that “You can definitely do it with an Act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

The US President provided no details about that proposition, saying only that he had discussed the matter with his legal advisers in the White House.

The Democratic National Committee criticised Trump’s proposal as “obviously unconstitutional.”

“His intent is clear: To incite fear, divide our nation, and make vulnerable communities feel unsafe,” DNC spokesman Daniel Wessel said in a statement, adding “If you want leaders who will unite our country instead of divide it, you must vote on November 6.”

Trump’s plan would be directed against the US-born children of illegal immigrants and would not affect people with legal residence.

The escalation of the president’s anti-immigrant rhetoric comes during the final stretch of the election campaign for the November 6 midterm vote in which Republicans are seeking to maintain their majority in Congress.

US President Donald Trump “looks forward” to visiting India but the timing will depend on his other commitments, according to a senior State Department official.

“I am certain that President Trump looks forward to being able to visit India at an appropriate time,” Alice Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, told IANS in an interview.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Trump to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations next year.

Asked if Trump would come to the celebrations or would schedule his visit for another time, Wells said that the White House will decide taking into account “both the domestic commitments he has here in the US as well as overseas”.

Wells pointed to the steady stream of US officials who visit India as a symbol of the close ties between the two countries at the official level.

“As somebody who helps manage India relationship, it’s amazing the number of cabinet officials and high-level visitors that we have in India every month of the year,” she said.

“That too reflects the density of the ties between our countries that I think we have over 40 major dialogues that take place between our government agencies and departments.”

Modi first met Trump in Washington in 2017, and also at other multilateral meetings.

A military parade is the centre of the Republic Day celebrations and Trump has been a fan of such parades and wants the US to have one, too.

While these parades are held annually across the globe world as part of patriotic celebrations, the US does not have one.

At Trump’s suggestion a parade was scheduled for November on Veterans Day, which honours former servicemen, and this year it would coincide with the centenary of the conclusion of the First World War.

However, having never having held such a parade, the Defence Department postponed it to possibly next year.

US President Donald Trump sent a lot of people, including reporters, scurrying for dictionaries when he posted an odd tweet that used the word “covfefe”.

Trump wrote on Twitter in the early morning hours of May 31: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”

It left many of his 31 million followers on Twitter baffled, and slightly concerned.

Most people think he meant to write “press coverage,” and it was a typo/spelling error. The strange tweet remained up for at least an hour after it first appeared (presumably Trump’s press team was sleeping), reported Heavy.com

More than 73,000 people retweeted the tweet in just 120 minutes, and it earned its own hashtag.

Twitter had a field day.

Jeff Posey @RattlesnakeShk posted: “…being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear #Covfefe shall not be infringed”

Clive Thompson @pomeranian99 tweeted: “Does no one on staff have his password? Have they tried the most common ones? 123456, or 11111, or, like … “password”?

So what does the word “covfefe” mean? Again, it means nothing apparently. It appears to be a typo/spelling error. It doesn’t come up in standard dictionaries, and, although a lot of people thought he meant to say press coverage, a few people thought he meant press conference.

This was Merriam-Webster’s reaction:

Merriam-Webster ? @MerriamWebster
“Wakes up.
“Checks Twitter.
Uh…
?? Lookups fo…
Regrets checking Twitter.
Goes back to bed.”

USA Today points out that, even if the president meant to write “despite the constant negative press coverage,” it’s still not clear what he was talking about since the sentence cuts off.

Much has been written about Trump’s novel use of Twitter. He says he uses it to communicate to people outside the media filter and, of course, supporters argue he won the election doing things his way. Recent reports indicated that his lawyers might start vetting his tweets, though. Judging from “covfefe,” it doesn’t appear that anyone’s vetting them yet, wrote Heavy.com.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/869766994899468288