New Delhi:
Nirav Sheth, an Indian-origin Republican candidate in the US midterm polls, has justified the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, particularly the cancellation of hundreds of visas such as H-1B used mainly by Indian techies.
Sheth, 40, said many companies sponsoring H-1B employment visas "are fake companies which don't even have any sort of products or solutions to the public or the market". Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Sheth, who belongs to Trump's party, said such firms are exploiting loopholes.
Asked about Trump's naming of US major Microsoft and prominent Indian firms while blocking a Green Card programme recently, Sheth said, "We do have big companies, Microsoft and other tech companies, Apple, Facebook, you name it. At the same time, space projects and also some colleges are offering H-1B visas. They are not under attack. The attack has been happening due to fake degrees, fake documentation, and immigration fraud."
He added, "I agree with those policies because we do have actual people from India and other countries who actually want to work over here, have proper documentation and proper education to support those jobs, and they are not getting those benefits due to some of the fake documentation and other immigration frauds happening."
President Trump had named seven companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, and Infosys, when he announced the suspension of the PERM programme for permanent residency status or a Green Card.
Asked to address that, Sheth said, "There is an investigation going on, so I will not say anything to either support or deny any kind of allegations about the H1B-to-Green Card path."
He said Microsoft is the largest employer for Indian H-1B visa holders, "and due to that, from H-1B to Green Card, it takes sometimes maybe 10 to 15 years of process". He also said he has a friend who worked for Microsoft for almost 20 years and still hadn't been granted a Green Card. "I think you have to go case by case, okay?"
He added, "We need, especially in the United States, a rigorous immigration reform where actual people who actually want to work and be a part of the economy can stay here without those kinds of events or incidents, and the people who actually just want to use or abuse the system, we can root them out."
"The immigration system needs to be reformed in a proper way, so that the US can be friendlier for the people who actually want to contribute to the economy," he further said.
Midterm polls for both chambers of the US Congress are scheduled for November 3. Nirav Sheth is the Republican Party candidate for the House of Representatives from Washington's 7th Congressional District, facing Democratic incumbent Pramila Jayapal.
Born and raised in India, he came to the US in 2008 as a student of computer and electrical engineering, and later joined the Marines. He served four years as an aircraft mechanic and military police officer, and then was a police officer, he says on his website.