US Green Card Policy Sparks Outcry from Tech Leaders and Indian Entrepreneurs

The United States’ latest green card policy, which requires many legal immigrants to apply for permanent residency from outside the country, has triggered criticism from technology leaders and Indian-origin entrepreneurs, with several warning that the move could hurt innovation, talent mobility and immigrant families.

The new policy, issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), says adjustment of status applications for green cards inside the US are discretionary and should not replace regular consular processing abroad. The move could force many legal immigrants already living in the US, including H-1B workers, students, researchers and professionals, to leave the country and apply for permanent residency from overseas.

The development has drawn reactions from artificial intelligence leaders, startup founders and Indian business executives, many of whom linked the policy to America’s competitiveness in technology and innovation.

Andrew Ng calls policy ‘attack on legal immigration’

AI researcher and entrepreneur Andrew Ng criticised the policy in a social media post, saying it would weaken America’s position in artificial intelligence and science.

“The new White House policy requiring green card applicants to apply from outside the US is a capricious attack on legal immigration. It will hurt families, leave us with fewer doctors, teachers and scientists, and hurt American competitiveness in AI,” Ng wrote.

Responding to Ng’s post, entrepreneur Nitish Kannan said immigrants play a major role in the US technology ecosystem.

“That’s the whole point of the issue they don’t want people from other races into our country. They don’t care that 55% of the billion dollar AI unicorns and companies that create jobs are Indian and immigrants,” Kannan wrote in a reply on social media.

He further alleged that the policy debate had moved beyond economics and technology.

“They literally comment and say we would rather have white people the whole administration process nothing but white supremacist content. They are not about logic or technology,” he wrote.

Sridhar Vembu asks Indians on visas to ‘come home’

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu urged Indian professionals in the US to consider returning to India amid uncertainty over immigration rules.

“Once again, my appeal to Indians in America on a visa. Please come home. Even if you feel it is hardship and sacrifice, self-respect should dictate your course. Let's make Bharat proud,” Vembu wrote on social media.

Rubio says policy ‘not about India’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the immigration overhaul during an interview with NDTV, saying the policy was global in nature and not aimed specifically at India.

“Well, it's not about India. It's about the whole world,” Rubio told NDTV.

“The United States has taken a decision that it needs to streamline and improve our system of immigration. The fact of the matter is, and I think every country would understand it, again, this is not about India. This is a global situation that we're dealing with,” he said.

Rubio said the reforms followed what he described as a migration crisis in the US.

“Our country, unfortunately, faced a very serious migratory crisis a few years ago. Over 20 million people unlawfully entered the country. We saw abuses of the green card system in many cases as well. And so we decided that we were going to reform it,” he said.

He acknowledged that the changes could cause disruption in the short term.

“Any time you reform a system, there's going to be some disruptions. There's going to be some hiccups. There's going to be some inconvenience,” Rubio said.