Libyan Dr. Faysal Alghoula must renew his green card to continue caring for roughly 1,000 patients in southwestern Indiana, but hasn’t been able to since the Trump administration stopped reviewing applications for people from several dozen countries it deemed high-risk.

Dr. Alghoula’s current visa will expire in September if his application is denied.

But last week, the administration quietly made an exemption for medical doctors with pending visa or green card applications, possibly allowing Dr. Alghoula’s case to move forward. It’s a move physicians, organisations, and immigration attorneys had sought for months, citing widespread shortages and a high proportion of foreign-trained doctors, who disproportionately work in underserved areas, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The lack of doctors is top of mind for Dr. Alghoula, a pulmonologist and Intensive Care Unit doctor who serves a mostly rural population spanning parts of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

“It is about four to five months’ wait to get the pulmonologist here,” he said.

Still, applicants and immigration attorneys say it’s unclear how big a difference the exemption will make. The change means doctors can have their cases reviewed, but it doesn’t guarantee their green cards or visas will be renewed. It is also unclear whether U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be able to process those applications in time to meet immigration deadlines like Dr. Alghoula’s.

He said he doesn’t trust the administration will approve him due to numerous stories about immigrants being detained at appointments to renew their paperwork, like the one he has next month.

“I’m still scared to go to my interview,” said Dr. Alghoula, who has lived in the U.S. since 2016.

Meanwhile, the pause remains in effect for thousands of others, including researchers and entrepreneurs from 39 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan and Venezuela. While they’re on hold, many can’t legally work, get health insurance or a driver’s license. If they leave the U.S., they won’t be let back in.

Trump set to expand immigration crackdown in 2026 despite brewing backlash

Immigrants unable to work or see family

The Trump administration decided last year to stop reviewing green card and visa applications for people from a list of countries deemed high-risk, and this year stopped reviewing visa applications for citizens of more than 75 countries over concerns they would seek public assistance. The moves came amid the U.S. government’s broader crackdown on immigrants.

The pause followed the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan citizen, which the administration said highlighted “what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritising expedient adjudications can do to the American people.” The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration officials, didn’t answer questions about the pause or recent changes to exempt physicians but said in an email it wants to ensure applicants are properly screened after determining the prior administration failed to do so.

“There are lots of bans and lots of pauses that are happening right now,” said Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney based in Memphis, Tennessee. “It is all about making life miserable for people who are here legally so they will choose other countries.”

It isn’t clear how many doctors have been affected by the pause, according to a spokesperson for the American Academy of Family Physicians, who said several doctors have reached out to the organisation asking for help.

Some doctors have already been denied

Before the exemption, many immigrants filed federal lawsuits demanding that the government issue decisions on their cases.

One of them was Iranian Dr. Zahra Shokri Varniab, who came to the United States three years ago to conduct radiology research. She was waiting for a green card to attend a residency program, but her application got stuck in the pause. She filed a lawsuit demanding an answer to her application, and a federal judge ordered immigration officials to review her case.

They did — and denied her. The 33-year-old doctor said she believes it was in retaliation for her lawsuit.

“I feel completely confused,” Shokri Varniab said.

In court filings, U.S. government lawyers wrote that Shokri Varniab’s application contained inconsistencies about whether she plans to become a practising doctor or researcher. She said she plans to do both.

She said the exemption doesn’t appear to apply to her since her case was decided, but she is seeking relief in court.

Immigration policy is compounding the war abroad

Immigrants who hold prestigious jobs in science and technology said they currently can’t work due to the pause because they’re waiting for employment authorisation documents. Some said they are running out of money for rent and groceries, and worry their careers could be thwarted if they’re forced to leave the country.

Those from Iran are especially worried about returning home during the ongoing war with U.S. and Israeli forces. They said they can’t regularly reach family due to the Iranian government’s Internet blackout or count on them for financial support.

Kaveh Javanshirjavid came to the United States from Iran seven years ago to study for his doctorate in agriculture. He was supposed to start a lab job in January, but he needs employment authorisation, and his application is on hold.

The 41-year-old said he’s borrowing from friends to pay rent and relying on his wife’s doctorate stipend for basic necessities. But he doesn’t know how long that will last because she’s also Iranian and will need work authorisation to get a job after graduating this summer.

“The whole of my life is on hold,” he said.

Published – May 08, 2026 01:04 pm IST

DHS ⁠began a partial shutdown last week ⁠after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

An order to release 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from detention, which included a picture of the boy and Bible verse references under the signature of U.S. District Judge Fred Biery photographed on January 31, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Image used for representative purpose only.

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Days after vowing to “go to war” to defend the H-1B visas, tech billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday said the system, which is used to bring skilled foreign workers to the US, is “broken” and needs a “major reform”.

Mr Musk and Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have recently clashed with supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump over the issue of immigration.

Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy, who are set to be part of the incoming Trump administration, have backed the H-1B visa program.

Posting on X, the social media site he owns, Mr Musk, who himself migrated from South Africa on an H-1B, said he has “been very clear” that the program is “broken” and “needs major reform”.

He was responding to a user who said the US needs to be a destination for the “world’s most elite talent”, but the H-1B program “isn’t the way to do that”.

Mr Musk said it can be “easily fixed” by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H-1B, making it “materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically”.

Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.

I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 29, 2024

Last week, Mr Musk said bringing elite engineering talent from abroad was “essential for America to keep winning.”

Mr Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, also echoed Mr Musk’s sentiments. He argued that the US culture has long celebrated “mediocrity over excellence”.

“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ… will not produce the best engineers,” he posted on X.

Debate Over H-1B Visas

The debate over H-1B visas began after Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer, criticised Donald Trump’s selection of Indian-American entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration.

Ms Loomer, along with far-right figures like Ann Coulter and former Congressman Matt Gaetz, accused Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy of undermining American workers.

One viral post on X accused Mr Krishnan as an “India First” operative whose goal was to “replace American workers.”

“Looking forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech,” Ms Loomer, a MAGA figure known for her conspiracy theories, said.

“We have to protect President Trump from the technocrats,” she said.

Mr Musk fired back at his critics and warned of a “MAGA civil war.”

He also swore at one critic, saying, “I will go to war on this issue.”

Trump Backs Musk In H-1B Visa Debate

Donald Trump has sided with Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backs the program for foreign tech workers opposed by some of his supporters.

Trump, who moved to limit the visas’ use during his first presidency, told The New York Post on Saturday he was likewise in favour of the visa program.

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he was quoted as saying.

Tapachula:

Hundreds of migrants left the Mexican city of Tapachula on foot Wednesday, aiming to arrive at the US border before President-elect Donald Trump — who has vowed massive deportations — takes office in January.

The group of about 1,500 people set out from Tapachula in southern Mexico in the early morning hours for a walk of some 2,600 kilometers (over 1,600 miles).

“My mentality is to get there, I want my (asylum) appointment before he (Trump) takes power,” Colombian Yamel Enriquez told AFP.

“If I don’t get the appointment before, I will give myself over to whatever God wants.”

Venezuelan Zuleika Carreno joined the exodus with the same single-minded purpose.

She said she decided not to postpone her departure “for fear of getting stuck on this side” of the border, which would mean her laborious travels so far would have been “in vain.”

Trump, who won an election in which illegal migration was a top issue, has vowed to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.

Authorities estimate that some 11 million people are living in the United States illegally, and Trump has stoked concerns by claiming an “invasion” is underway by migrants he says will rape and murder Americans.

On Wednesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was preparing a document highlighting the contribution of workers from her country to the US economy.

Migrants who amass in Mexico from a variety of troubled countries with a view to a better life in the United States frequently organize group movements known as “caravans” in a bid to pressure authorities into giving them temporary Mexican visas.

Sticking together also reduces the risk of criminal attacks, but the migrants groups usually disperse along the way.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington DC:

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed immigration hardliner and close aide, Stephen Miller, as his White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Confirming Millar’s appointment, Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday, congratulated the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy on X, calling him “another fantastic pick by the president.”

Mr Miller was part of the president-elect’s first administration and served as his senior adviser and director of speech-writing at the White House. He was also a central figure behind several of Mr Trump’s policies on immigration, including the Muslim travel ban and the 2018 family separation policy.

Miller’s Stance On H-1B Visas

Known for his extremist rhetoric, Mr Miller was a frequent presence during the president-elect’s 2024 campaign, often seen speaking at Mr Trump’s rallies. Addressing Mr Trump’s infamous Madison Square Garden rally in New York which saw an attendance of nearly 19,500 Americans, Mr Miller told the crowd that “America is for Americans and Americans only” and promised to “restore America to the true Americans”.

Last year during an interview with the New York Times, Mr Miller asserted that if Mt Trump was re-elected, his administration would bring policies to restrict legal and illegal immigration. He also talked about plans to detain undocumented immigrants in camps while they await expulsion.

During Trump’s first administration, Miller helped in drafting the Cruz-Sessions bill that prohibited international students with a master’s or bachelor’s degree from working in H-1B status in the US for at least 10 years. 

Now in his new role in Trump 2.0, Mr Miller is expected to continue his advocacy for restrictive immigration policies, including limits on H-1B visas. He argues that the H-1B program can lead to American worker displacement and wage suppression.

Trump Administration And Immigration 

Trump administration’s stance on immigration has often been at odds with economic consensus, which shows that skilled immigrants and international students benefit the US economy. As president, Mr Trump did not enact any measures to increase access to H-1B visas, and his second term will likely be similar. Policies introduced during his presidency also saw a rise in visa denial rates and a narrowing of the definition of “speciality occupation,” reducing the positions eligible for H-1B workers.

In 2020, before Mr Trump left office, his administration published a restrictive H-1B rule, which was blocked by a court for violating the Administrative Procedure Act. As per a report by Forbes, the rule included numerous provisions to prevent companies from employing foreign-born scientists and engineers, such as changing who and what positions could qualify for an H-1B speciality occupation.

Taking his previous administration’s agenda forward, Mr Trump has also appointed former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as his administration’s “Border Czar.” In a post on his Truth Social platform, the President-elect said that Homan would oversee the border security of the US along with maritime and aviation security. He also stated that Mr Homan would oversee deportation policies.

Together, Miller and Homan are anticipated to work closely in implementing the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures.

The Forbes report said that if President Joe Biden’s administration does not finalize the H-1B “modernizing” rule before he leaves the Oval Office, a new Trump administration could issue the H-1B rule with its priorities rather than those of the Biden team. 

As per the report, the new rule would likely be far more restrictive than the current H-1B regulation or what US Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed in October 2023. 
 

Washington:

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has vowed to impose tougher security measures at the border and fix America’s broken immigration system, as she sought to counter frequent political attacks on the issue from her Republican rival Donald Trump ahead of the November election.

Vice President Harris’ comments came during her visit to the US-Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona, on Friday.

Despite taking a hardline stance on border security, Harris said she also supports a “pathway to citizenship” for undocumented migrants currently in the US.

“As President, I will work with Congress to create, at long last, a pathway to citizenship for hardworking immigrants who have been here for years,” Harris said.

Harris was in Arizona to get a first-hand assessment of the security situation at the southern borders.

Slamming former President Trump, she said politicians have refused to come together and fix the broken immigration system.

Illegal immigration is an issue that Americans have grown increasingly worried about in recent years amid record levels of migrant crossings at the southern border.

“Well, as President, I will put politics aside to fix our immigration system and find solutions to problems which have persisted for far too long…These issues are highly consequential for our nation,” she said.

Harris, 59, will take on Trump, 78, in the November 5 presidential election.

Observing that the contrast in the 2024 election is clear, Harris said it is a choice between common sense solutions and the same old political games.

“In the four years that Donald Trump was President, he did nothing to fix our broken immigration system. He did not solve the shortage of immigration judges and border agents or create lawful pathways into our nation. He did nothing to address our outdated asylum system. And did not work with other governments in our hemisphere to deal with what is clearly a regional challenge,” she alleged.

Harris slammed Trump for wanting to run on a problem instead of fix a problem.

“The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games,” she said.

As a former border state Attorney General, Harris noted that she understands what security and enforcing the law at the border means, prosecuting transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings.

As such she unveiled her approach to “target the entire global fentanyl supply chain” to “significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals from China” and protect Americans from the “unimaginable destruction” it is causing.

“On behalf of all communities across our nation that want to see these problems solved I say: We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions. Or rhetoric instead of results,” she said.

In his remarks earlier in the day, Trump hammered Harris for having an unsecured border.

“This is bad timing for Kamala to show up today at the border. She didn’t go there for four years. Today, she shows up,” Trump said.

Trump said Harris had betrayed her oath.

“She let our cities fail violent gangs. She let our American sons and daughters be raped and murdered at the hands of vicious monsters. She let American communities be conquered. You go out to Aurora in Colorado, where they’re taking over with AK-47s. They’re taking over real estate. Kamala turned cherished small towns into blighted refugee camps,” he said.

“What Kamala Harris has done is unforgivable. It’s a crime what she did. It’s got to be criminal. There’s no greater act of disloyalty than to extinguish the sovereignty of your own nation, and that’s what she’s done. She’s ruined our nation. She’s ruined our nation,” Trump alleged.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

There does not seem to any light at the end of the tunnel for children of legal immigrants, a significantly large number of whom are Indian-Americans who came to the US as a young kid with their parents and now risk being deported back to the country where they don’t know anyone because of them being aging out when they turn 21.

There are around 250,000 of such children of legal immigrants, a significantly large number of whom are Indians. The White House on Thursday blamed the Republicans for this legislative impasse.

“I talked about the bipartisan agreement that came together from the Senate where we negotiated a process to help the so-called documented Dreamers. And sadly, Republicans, and I’ve said this many times already at this podium today, which is that they voted it down twice. They voted it down twice,’ White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

Last month led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representative Deborah Ross, a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers called on Biden Administration to take urgent action to protect the more than 250,000 Documented Dreamers – children of long-term visa holders – who are at risk of aging out of their dependent status and are forced to self-deport if they are ineligible for another status.

“These young people grow up in the United States, complete their education in the American school system, and graduate with degrees from American institutions,” wrote the lawmakers. “However, due to the long green-card backlog, families with approved immigrant petitions are often stuck waiting decades for permanent resident status,” they said in a letter to the Biden Administration on June 13.

Last month, Improve The Dream, an organization representing these children of legal immigrants, met with over 100 congressional offices and senior administration officials.

“It is disappointing to see the lack of action and associated proposed regulations deprioritized and delayed. It is time for action and I hope President Biden and the administration see the support from this bipartisan letter and show they care about one of the most bipartisan issues in Congress and rectify the mistakes of the past,’ said Dip Patel, founder of Improve The Dream comments.

At the same time, he expressed gratitude for the bipartisan members of Congress leading in a letter asking for urgent administrative policy improvements and who continue to champion a permanent solution through Congress.

“I was forced to start visa-hopping to be able to stay in this country when I was 20 years old, right before I aged out, as a junior at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. I am about to turn 27 this August. Soon, if my time visa-hopping was personified, they would be older than I was when I first came to the United States,” Jefrina, currently a graduate student pursuing my MBA at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota told PTI.

She came to the US from India in 2005 at the age of 7. “I arrived under a dependent H-4 visa. My family applied for permanent residency in 2010 when I was 12 years old, and I unwittingly fell in love with this country. In the last 19 years, Minnesota has undoubtedly become my home,” she said.

“My young adult life has been a series of temporary fixes to avoid self-deportation. I graduate from my Masters program in December, and I’m yet again at the crossroads of leaving my family, pets, friends, and a myriad of unquantifiable reasons I call Minnesota my home,” Jefrina said.

Praneetha, a Cloud Engineer based in Texas, who came to the US with her family when she was 8 years old as a dependent on her parents’ work visa, and after living in the US for more than 15 years, is left with no clear path toward permanent residency and has to hop from visa to visa in order to continue living and working in the country.

Roshan was forced to leave the US last month. He was working with- an American semiconductor manufacturing company. He came to the US with his Mom and brother at the age of 10 on an H4 visa- he grew up in Boston and graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a degree in Economics.

Roshan grew up in the US for almost 16 years but aged out in 2019. He had to leave the US in June without a clear path for returning, living, and working in the only country that he has truly called home.

Patel said every day without action results in young adults, who have been lawfully raised in the United States by skilled workers and small business owners, to be forced to leave the country, separating them from their families and stopping their ability to contribute to the country.

The administration has heard countless stories and examples of American-raised and educated STEM and health care talent (which comprises 87% of all impacted by aging-out, according to Improve The Dream’s survey) contributing in other countries now due to barriers in our legal immigration system.

“Our country is not only losing young talent who were raised and educated here, but we’re also losing many of their parents, who have years of practical experience as small business owners or in fields like medicine, engineering, and artificial intelligence. The economic case is clear and the moral case is clear. It is common sense,” he said in response to a question.

“All major administrative actions have excluded this population from receiving benefit, despite the tools for such relief being available and being used for others. Until Congress can pass the bipartisan America’s Children Act, we need urgent action by the administration to prioritize this issue, which has bipartisan support from Congress and the general public, and clear economic benefit,” Patel told Press Trust of India.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former US President Donald Trump, vying to return to the top post in elections due this year, has softened his stand on immigration with a new proposal that will benefit Indian and other foreign students.

The Republican leader known for his staunch remarks against immigrants has promised that if he’s elected, foreign students who graduate from US colleges will automatically get Green Card, which allows permanent residency in the US.

Trump said these students become multibillionaires after they return to their home countries like India and China after graduating from US colleges. He sought to replicate the same in the US.

The US presidential elections due in November is expected to see a second edition of President Joe Biden versus Donald Trump, in which immigration and deportation of illegal immigrants are among the key issues for voters.

Trump had earlier this year branded illegal immigrants “animals, not human” at an election campaign. He, however, said in a recent podcast that he always supported a merit-based legal immigration system.

He said in the “All-In” podcast that he plans to offer Green Cards automatically as part of a diploma to students who graduate from a US college, which will help them continue their stay in the country.

The podcast was hosted by Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg – all venture capitalists, three of whom are immigrants.

Speaking in the podcast, Trump recalled “stories where people graduated from a top college or from a college, and they desperately wanted to stay here, they had a plan for a company, a concept, and they can’t – they go back to India, they go back to China, they do the same basic company in those places…and they become multi-billionaires employing thousands and thousands of people, and it could have been done here.”

A Green Card is an identity document for permanent residency in the United States.

The former president further lamented that “we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools”.

He also reiterated his first-term policy of foreign students getting a Green Card after receiving a higher education degree in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field.

“Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country,” Trump said.

“We force the brilliant people, the people that graduate from college, the people that are number one in their class from the best colleges, you have to be able to recruit these people and keep the people,” the former president asserted.

He said some graduates at the top of the class can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they will be able to stay in the country, but that is “going to end one day”.

Trump’s recent remarks were in contrast to the immigration policies of his administration when he was in power, which included restrictions on green cards and visas.

The US has over a million foreign students studying in colleges there, as of the 2022-23 academic year, and this figure can only be expected to rise.