Thread by @badtameezbetis

My family and I moved to the US almost 14 years ago. My mom had gotten approval for an H1B visa (work visa) to work as a pharmacist in the U.S. This was our moment as a family to work on achieving that “American Dream”. #H1B

It’s been 14 years now. 14 years of her life, her marriage, and her hard earned money that she’s given to the U.S all in hopes for creating a better life for her kids & she has gotten nothing in return.
#H1B

Instead, 14 years into it and she does not yet have her green card (due to the incredibly fucked up immigration system). Because she’s not a citizen, she does not get a say in the policies & who the people that make the policies that directly affect her life.
#H1B

For me, I started out as an H4 visa holder (a dependent of an H1B holder). This meant that growing up, while I could legally stay in the US , I could not work, I could not do an internships that would enhance my resume, or get any scholarships to help pay for college. #H1B

Another fun fact is that once an H4 visa holder turns 21, they “age out” of the visa and are no longer allowed to be a dependent. This was not conveyed to my family.
#H1B

I turned 21. I was getting ready to take my MCAT that March. I was getting ready to apply to medical school and pursue my lifelong dream of being a doctor that June. It wasn’t till a few months after turning 21 that I found out that I was “out of status”. #H1B

My two options were either 1. drop everything in the middle of my junior year and go back to India (where I have nobody or no home technically) or 2. convert to an international student visa status - where I would have to pay the ridiculous international student tuition #H1B

in order to finish my undergraduate degree.

From that moment, my entire life has been put on pause. All my dreams & goals seemed unattainable. Since then, I have worked hard on finding a way to try and do what I love, while also figuring out how to survive here.
#H1B

These are the little side effects of trying to achieve that “American Dream”. I still have not been able to make any progress when it comes to figuring my life out (lol), and what sucks even more is that my younger brother is going to turn 21 this august. #H1B

Which means he also ages out and starts to go through everything I am going through. Everything stops being about what we want to do and it becomes about survival in a place that we have already given so much to and gotten nothing in return.
#H1B

The reason I’m writing this is because today, the absolute piece of shit that is the U.S president, signed an executive order to ban all H1B visas to “help the U.S employment rates” and “give jobs back to our people”.
#H1B

That’s cute bc 1. H1B visa holders make up a very small 0.3-0.5% of the total us work force and 2. most people hired on H1Bs are STEM degree holders, and because there aren’t enough US citizens that are qualified for IT and other STEM related jobs, they have to hire from #H1B

outside the US (aka it’s not our fucking faults that not enough US citizens have the capacity to get through college with an engineering or a science degree).

These H1B visa holders have jobs here. They have legal status here. #H1B

They have families they need to support that have already faced much more adversity than an avg person does. But we do not have a say in fighting for or against any of the policies that have such a huge impact on our lives.
#H1B

All I’m asking is for anyone that is an american citizen & has the right to vote… please strongly consider who you are voting for. H1B immigration issues are so incredibly undermined and so few people talk about it while it impacts so so many people. #h1b

If you have the right, make sure you are registered to VOTE. And when it’s time, please vote for someone who isn’t such a blatant asshole. Anyone thats my follower but is also planning on voting for him, disrespectfully…1. unfollow me and 2. go fuck yourself." #H1B