A United States court on Wednesday refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the President Donald Trump administration’s proclamation to halt the issuance of new H-1B, L-1 and other non-immigrant visas.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China, and Indians are the largest group of H-1B holders.
In his presidential proclamation on June 22, Trump temporarily suspended issuing of H-1B work visas till the end of the year, and has been met with lawsuits over the ‘irreparable harm’ that the move could have. US district court judge Amit Mehta did not grant a preliminary injunction till the time a verdict in the lawsuit in the matter is reached. This was in the plea filed by 169 Indian nationals.
The lawsuit was filed by Indian nationals who were recently residing in the United States in lawful nonimmigrant status under temporary labour petitions approved by the Department of Homeland Security. For various reasons, they travelled to India and now must receive visas to return to the US.
In the lawsuit challenging the proclamation, the plaintiffs had called the proclamation “arbitrary and capricious”, and demanded that their visa applications be processed.
The 169 Indian nationals in their lawsuit had sought an order directing the Secretary of State and the United States consulates "to process, adjudicate, and render final decisions on Plaintiffs'' DS-160 visa applications. But requiring such swift processing would be an exercise in futility when the complainant would remain ineligible to enter the country until January 1, 2021, at the earliest," Mehta said.
The judge noted that the plaintiffs in this case, the Indian nationals, were “unlikely to succeed on their challenge” to the proclamation, and that an injunction “would not remedy their claimed irreparable harms and would not be in the public interest”.
In his ruling, the judge said, “Such an order would risk diverting limited resources away from visa applicants who are eligible under an exception to the Proclamation, and could create substantial confusion for visa recipients attempting to enter the country only to be denied at ports of entry.”
However, he noted that those looking to secure a visa may convince the court that the Trump administration must continue processing their visas despite the entry restrictions.
This ruling was reportedly the second time in a month that the judge has denied requests to suspend the proclamation, and did so previously earlier this month.
The plaintiffs have reportedly said in a court filing that they will be appealing the ruling to the DC Circuit.
In August, the administration announced relaxations in restrictions for the visa for applicants who are looking to return to jobs held in the US with the same employer and in the same position and visa category.