Letter to the Observer

To Editor-in-Chief Ben Padanilam,

Hello, and thank you for taking the time to hear what we have to say! We write to you in hopes of informing you on the importance of the issue of H1-B visas. H1-B visas are a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ graduate level workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as in IT, accounting, engineering, medicine, etc. These visas are given to only to educated and highly skilled people in specialized fields and they are typically given for 3 years, but can be extended for up to 6 and the holder of the visa will have the opportunity to apply for a green card. This is a fairly short stay and if that weren’t limiting enough there is a cap of 85,000 on the amount of H1-B visas given every fiscal year of the government. The process of obtaining an H1-B is currently a lottery and big companies usually buy out all of the H1-B visa spots. In recent news, President Trump is trying to pass a law which requires all those with H1-B visas to pass a face-to-face interview in order to receive a green card. This will make permanent citizenship in the United States almost impossible with those here on H1-B visas due to the fact that the process of receiving a green card could take 3 years without the interview process in the way. The quota, limited time of stay, and difficulty in getting permanent residency may keep America from being the most influential countries in the world and also acts directly against our stance as a “melting pot” nation.

There is a great amount of proven and potential gain from people that hold H1-B visas. The CEOs of Tesla and Google are both not American born and they provide the United States with not just jobs, but also the name as one of the most progressive countries in STEM. From personal anecdotes, my father, Alexander Sergeevich Mukasyan, came to the America on a H1-B visa from the University of Notre Dame. What started as a poor Russian scientist coming to work for 3 years turned into my father being a tenured professor who has more than five patents with the University and more with other U.S. based companies, hundreds of highly cited publications in highly ranked U.S. journals, and the creation of a coating for the outer surface of space shuttles as a project with NASA. Even if a holder of an H1-B visa decides to go back home after the visa is over, there is a great amount of knowledge that they have gained from working in the U.S. that they can bring back and help advance other places in the world!

America was a country that was built ground up by immigrants. That’s where it all started. Every “American” we know was at some point a child of an immigrant. So what point does it make now if we decide to change the process of obtaining an H1-B visa to a much more complicated process. When we force away diversity, something we have been advocating for America’s whole history, we would be losing what makes America fundamentally ‘American’. It takes away what makes our country unique. We are the “melting pot” nation. The different cultures we inhabit is our identity. We should cherish the fact that a nation like this exists and hope to maintain this beautiful aspect of our communities. Different cultures mean different minds, different ideas, and different ways of thinking. We can be the nation that includes all the positives from cultures all across the globe but this may soon come to an end if the H1-B visa application process gets changed.

There is so much benefit to the H1-B visa, it would hurt the American workforce and culture more than it would help Americans find more jobs. It is something that has been used to encourage people from other nations to help grow America’s theoretical or technical expertise, which led to creating even more jobs for Americans. Thanks to the H1-B visa, thousands of people from all over the world have come to America to share their knowledge and help American companies grow. Limiting the H1-B visa further than it already is now would be detrimental to the creativity and technical skill in America. It would also hurt America’s reputation as the “melting pot” country, discouraging others with great knowledge in other nations to come participate in the American workforce. The H1-B visa has changed the lives of many in the United States. We hope that we were able to convey the importance of the H1-B visa to you and to Americans. Thank you again for taking the time to read through this letter.

Alex Mukasyan, Paul Lee, and Borah Chong