Trump recently directed officials at the White House that it is looking to reform H-1B visa system and switch to a merit-based immigration system, while also going ahead and suspending H-1B, L-1 and other temporary visa options to help safeguard employment for American citizens.?
This move has been criticised by many in the US and now, CEO of Alphabet and Google, Sundar Pichai tweeted about it, showing his disappointment over the H-1B Visa restrictions.
Sundar Pichai said in a statement, "Immigration has contributed immensely to America¡¯s economic success, making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today. Disappointed by today¡¯s proclamation - we¡¯ll continue to stand with immigrants and work to expand opportunity for all."
Sundar Pichai, a first-generation immigrant himself, who visited the country for studying his masters at Stanford University has worked at Applied Materials and McKinsey, joined Google in 2004, and now holds the reigns of the search-engine empire.
Pichai's statements come at a time when over 1,600 employees at Google are asking him to show support for the ¡®Black Lives Matter¡¯ movement by terminating contracts with the police and preventing misuse of their technology for racial profiling and other crimes the police departments in the US are accused of.?
As protests broke out across the US, Sundar Pichai announced that it will be donating $12 million to organisations that are fighting against racial discrimination in the world.??
As per the statement issued by the White House, this is being done to ensure only high-skilled labour is being allowed to enter the US while not undercutting the labour market in the nation.?
A senior White House official said in a statement to news reporters (as reported by PTI), "The more permanent actions that he is directing us to take include reforming the H-1B system to move in the direction of a more merit-based system. You hear the president talk all the time about getting the best and the brightest, and you also hear him talking about protecting American jobs. So, these reforms will do both."