Elon Musk recently took to X to criticise the US legislation imposing seven per cent country limits on employment-based green cards, calling it “racist.” These restrictions, established in the 1960s, remain unchanged to this day.
Per-country caps refer to limitations on the number of green cards allocated to people from particular countries. Each year, around 140,000 employment-based green cards are available, yet only up to seven percent of these can be awarded to applicants from any single country. When the number of sponsored individuals from a specific country surpasses this seven per cent threshold, it leads to a backlog.
Significant delays have arisen primarily for immigrants from India and China as a result of these country-specific caps. Indeed, more than a million individuals, including dependent spouses and children, are currently awaiting employment-based green cards in the United States due to these backlogs.
Calling it ‘super racist’
In a post that reads, “Every month DoS shamelessly publishes cut off dates that separate Chinese and Indian born from Rest of the World,” Musk has now commented, “Yup, super racist”.
Many users backed Musk in the comment section, with one user saying, “It looks like racism is deep- rooted in our society.” “Very racist. Especially since Indians are all highly skilled professionals coming to fill mostly tech jobs that Americans can’t or aren’t qualified to do,” one user said, while another wrote, “Racial discrimination is getting worse and America needs a new Lincoln”. One said, “I have to leave America with my family during the corona pandemic, due to delay in perm approval which is first step to get green card. I had work contract but still no choice to stay in US.”
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“Racism is still very much active in the globe. But why?” one user questioned, while another said, “I’m shocked a country that has such strict laws when it comes to legal immigration can be so lax at its borders…” “Indians have a long wait time of life time to get legal in America. Keep aside the citizen ship or green card, they won’t even give them EADs for stability,” one user wrote.
(With inputs from agencies)
