Has the American Dream Become a Nightmare?

Dear Reader,

We’ve changed our name: The Signal Daily is now The Signal Brief. We’ll continue bringing you one deeply reported, consumer-facing story every week.

This week, we explore the future of the American Dream for Indians in light of the US’s recent $100K H1-B visa fee announcement.

In the 1990s, Silicon Valley was booming. The US needed more coders and engineers, and India had plenty of bright young STEM graduates ready to go. Washington passed a law creating the H-1B visa, with caps on how many would qualify each year.

Since then, millions of Indians have chased their version of the American Dream. You know the story: they’d apply to Master’s programmes, take hefty loans, study hard, land jobs at top tech firms, and start their lives in the US. In a few years, many paid off their loans, bought McMansions and BMWs, and became American citizens, all made possible by the H-1B work visa.

But even before Donald Trump’s recent $100,000 visa fee announcement, cracks had started appearing. The H-1B is a lottery, which means that if you don’t get picked, you pack up and leave. And for Indians, getting a green card can take far longer, since it’s tied to your country of birth.

Raj, a tech worker in the Pacific Northwest, told me he applied for his green card back in 2017. Eight years later, he’s still waiting.

Then came September 19. President Trump dropped a bombshell: a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications. It rattled workers across the US. Some even disembarked from flights leaving the US, fearing they wouldn’t be allowed back.

AA, a recent graduate I spoke to, said his employer–a public agency in Boston–had promised to sponsor his visa. After the announcement, they backed out. “They just couldn’t afford it,” he said.

AA had already struggled to find a job. This, he told me, was the final nail in the coffin.

“No, definitely not. If anyone wants to come to the US, now is not the time,” he said. “You can’t look into the future. I see my friends in India buying houses, settling down. I can’t even buy one because I don’t know if I’ll stay in this country. I can’t invest in a retirement plan because I don’t know if I’ll still be here.”

To hear more from AA, other H-1B workers, and immigration lawyers, tune in to the latest episode of The Signal Brief. You can find us on Youtube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

I’d love to hear what you thought! Write to us at [email protected], or reach me directly on Instagram or Twitter at @thesignaldotco, or via email at [email protected].

Thanks for listening, and have a restful weekend.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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