The Homeland Security Department is showered with flowers from a peaceful protest over a major confusion that left many of the immigrants in indeterminate state.
The problem started on 9th September when many of the immigrants checked the Visa Bulletin on the website of the State Department which updates on monthly basis and immigrants also closely monitor.
Many people discovered that they are eligible enough to file for the process of getting the green card. This green card grants immigrants the flexibility of changing their jobs or even travel out of the country.
The change had put an impact on thousands of US immigrants, mostly coming on H-1B visas, this visa is common for overseas workers who are highly skilled.
On the 25th September, the Department of State reissued the visa bulletin with some changes saying that many of those immigrants will not qualify. It affected as many as 50,000 applications who were no longer eligible to apply.
Two weeks later, the Department of State gave an explanation saying that the change came in effect after consulation with Homeland Security Department.
The spokeswoman of the Homeland Security Department said that analysis of the Visa Bulletin was intended for improving the green cards grants, which shows that the bulletin’s new filing dates didn’t effectively reflecting the availability of the visa.
The immigrants who got affected and unsatisfied were protesting. By delivering flowers with the note to the Department. According to the immigrants, this effort was meant to direct the protest through non violent method of Mahatma Gandhi.
Three lawyers filed a complaint against the State Department, Homeland Security Department and the USCIS, Jen Johnson, Homeland Security Secretary, John Kerry, State Secretary.
The immigrants are affected by the cost, as many of the families spent around USD 2000 to USD 5000 each for preparing the applications.
The backlog in the green card process means that immigrants have to wait for long period for obtaining the citizenship. Around 1,40,000 green cards are made available for the overseas workers in the US. With quotas for some countries and with certain skill levels. This backlog is much high for the citizens of India and China.
