President Donald Trump may be the last line of defense against a bill that dramatically expands green cards for Indian visa workers in the United States.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) successfully passed his S.386 bill using the unanimous consent tactic in the Senate Wednesday – a way to pass the bill without a recorded vote. No Republican or Democrat Senator stepped up to stop the bill’s passage.
A version of the bill still has to pass the Democrat-led House of Representatives before it lands on Trump’s desk. The fast-tracked bill may be blocked in the House by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), even though she has promised to “swiftly and thoughtfully work with my colleagues to resolve outstanding issues.”
But the White House has not indicated whether Trump will sign or veto the bill. White House aides did not respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News.
For example, the bill allows CEOs to deliver green cards to roughly 70,000 Indian workers per year — up from 7,000 now — at a time when nearly 18 million Americans are unemployed.
Individuals who get the green cards can become citizens in five years.
The bill is a major priority for the nation’s largest tech corporations such as Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, Amazon, and Google.
Currently, roughly 400,000 Indian graduates hold U.S. jobs as H-1B workers, and they want green cards in exchange for working at their Silicon Valley and Fortune 500 jobs.
Lee’s bill would help the companies solve their labor problem and also recruit more Indian workers.