President Donald Trump’s order calls for an instant suspension of immigrants from countries with terror ties for a period of 90 days and complete suspension of Syrian refugees for an indefinite period.
The ban affects travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The affected countries like Iran decided to reciprocate the same move against the US until the order on Iranian nationals is lifted.
This has impacted the green card holders who will not be allowed back in until they are re-screened, if they come from any of the seven Muslim-dominated countries.
A federal judge’s ruling in Brooklyn blocking part of the President’s order, not to send back the immigrants to their home countries, rescued scores of refugees and others who were stranded at airports in the United States. The stay is applicable for the the airport detainees and those currently in transit and doesn’t change ban going forward.
As the confusion about the order prevails, several colleges advised foreign students and scholars to defer travel outside of the U.S. until there is more lucidity about the order. This order created ripple effect in multinational technology companies, who employ foreign workers on a large scale.
The reactions for these orders have been frantic especially with tech giants like Google which recalled around 100 of its staff impacted outside of US. Although Indian Muslims have little to worry about, this event has created stir in the Indian IT, who are wary about Trump’s move that may take impact the H1B visas.
However Indian Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers H N Ananth Kumar’s statement that US will have “the commerce-related attitude” towards India does come as a huge relief. The minister also said that “I also don’t think, there will be any problem for the Indian IT, BT and pharmaceutical industries”
Earlier, Trump has quoted India as a “true friend” in the warm-up conversation with Modi and also termed India as partner in addressing challenges around the world. Trump threatened a harsh line against China which cannot be a detriment to India
India’s foreign policy will probably counter the West, if they tender to attack student visas, H1B visas and Indian companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. This is evident from Theresa May’s underwhelming visit last year to India.
However, within the industry, people are preparing for the worst. Given his desire to maintain relations with India, Trump could be more vigilant in making any drastic moves which will impact the Indian diaspora.
