Indian businesses most affected by US
immigration laws
(An edited version of this article was published in The South Asian Times dated January 4, 2014)
The United States Justice Department is known to have taken tough stand against visa fraud cases. In many cases financial compensations and penalties have been sufficient to resolve them, punishments, such as imprisonment, have been rare. As the court system in the United States takes its course, the State Department is worried about fall-outs of its carefully built relationships with foreign nations. Commercial interests are top priorities for any government, especially the United States. These interests determine long-term foreign policies of the United States.
The US was not expecting tough responses from the Indian government for the arrest of its New York based consular official Devyani Khobragade, who was also subjected to humiliating searches after her arrest. The Indian official was alleged to have submitted false information in the visa application for her housekeeper. While United States refuses to allow immunity to foreign diplomats while investigating visa fraud cases it has been forced to negotiate with the Indian Government for a restoring a number of privileges withdrawn by India in response to US action.
One hasn’t forgotten the way United States evacuated its employees from Lahore, Pakistan, convicted by a Pakistani court for killing locals. The United States succeeded evacuating its convicted citizens only after paying hefty sums of money to victims’ families.
At the bottom of the tough stand taken by US courts in cases of abuses by foreign diplomats are vigorous campaigning by human rights or civil rights organizations. According to the American Civil Liberties Union diplomatic and consular officials usually escape responsibility for violations of laws, such as, human trafficking and workers protection because immunity laws protect them. In case of Khobragade, she has already been transferred to a new post in the United Nations in order to facilitate her full immunity from a future legal action and exemption against appearing in a court.
A number of diplomats and consular officials in the US have been accused of abusing their privileges of immunity. In some cases women were lured to the United States with false promises. Once in the US, their passports were confiscated while the workers were forced to work for long hours with little or no pay. Some women reported physical and sexual abuses by their keepers.
“Even when victims have been able to escape their abusers and seek restitution, immunity laws are often used to prohibit courts from so much as considering their claims. Absent a waiver of immunity, diplomats and consular officials enjoy total impunity for the mistreatment of their employees – at least until they leave their posts.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, an estimated 18,000 – 20,000 individuals are trafficked into this country each year. However, in cases in which the traffickers have diplomatic immunity, the victims, have no avenue for redress or compensation for the abuse and exploitation they suffered. “Domestic workers are extremely vulnerable to exploitation for a variety of reasons including unfamiliarity with their domestic and international rights, cultural and language barriers, and in many cases long work hours in isolation from their peers.”
The civil rights groups have demanded compensation for victims from the official's home country. “Such an approach would be an important step towards ending abuse of domestic workers by diplomats.” Punishments like imprisonment may not be the desired goal of human rights campaigns.
In 2005 ACLU represented three Indian women, Kumari Sabbithi, Joaquina Quadros and Tina Fernandes, who were employed as domestic workers by Major Waleed Al Saleh and his wife Maysaa Al Omar of McLean, Virginia. The women were brought to the United States under false pretexts, and were subjected to physical and psychological abuse by the Al Saleh family and forced to work against their will. In the winter of that year, fearing for their lives, each of the women individually fled the household. The Kuwaiti government agreed to a confidential settlement with the women in February 2012. The successful settlement of this case demonstrates that diplomatic immunity does not deny victims of human trafficking and human rights abuses from obtaining justice. The rights groups, Safe Horizon, which represented Susan Richard, the complainant against Khobragade, called for a fair trial and compensation for Richard.
Financial settlement was also accorded when India’s second-largest outsourcing firm, Infosys, agreed to pay $34 million to complete a civil settlement and conclude investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and resolve all visa and I-9 issues with the U.S. Departments of State, Immigration and Homeland Security. It was the largest ever visa fine imposed by the U.S. government. Infosys denied and disputed any claims of visa fraud or immigration abuse. There were no criminal charges or court rulings against the Company.
(An edited version of this article was published in The South Asian Times dated January 4, 2014)
The United States Justice Department is known to have taken tough stand against visa fraud cases. In many cases financial compensations and penalties have been sufficient to resolve them, punishments, such as imprisonment, have been rare. As the court system in the United States takes its course, the State Department is worried about fall-outs of its carefully built relationships with foreign nations. Commercial interests are top priorities for any government, especially the United States. These interests determine long-term foreign policies of the United States.
The US was not expecting tough responses from the Indian government for the arrest of its New York based consular official Devyani Khobragade, who was also subjected to humiliating searches after her arrest. The Indian official was alleged to have submitted false information in the visa application for her housekeeper. While United States refuses to allow immunity to foreign diplomats while investigating visa fraud cases it has been forced to negotiate with the Indian Government for a restoring a number of privileges withdrawn by India in response to US action.
One hasn’t forgotten the way United States evacuated its employees from Lahore, Pakistan, convicted by a Pakistani court for killing locals. The United States succeeded evacuating its convicted citizens only after paying hefty sums of money to victims’ families.
At the bottom of the tough stand taken by US courts in cases of abuses by foreign diplomats are vigorous campaigning by human rights or civil rights organizations. According to the American Civil Liberties Union diplomatic and consular officials usually escape responsibility for violations of laws, such as, human trafficking and workers protection because immunity laws protect them. In case of Khobragade, she has already been transferred to a new post in the United Nations in order to facilitate her full immunity from a future legal action and exemption against appearing in a court.
A number of diplomats and consular officials in the US have been accused of abusing their privileges of immunity. In some cases women were lured to the United States with false promises. Once in the US, their passports were confiscated while the workers were forced to work for long hours with little or no pay. Some women reported physical and sexual abuses by their keepers.
“Even when victims have been able to escape their abusers and seek restitution, immunity laws are often used to prohibit courts from so much as considering their claims. Absent a waiver of immunity, diplomats and consular officials enjoy total impunity for the mistreatment of their employees – at least until they leave their posts.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, an estimated 18,000 – 20,000 individuals are trafficked into this country each year. However, in cases in which the traffickers have diplomatic immunity, the victims, have no avenue for redress or compensation for the abuse and exploitation they suffered. “Domestic workers are extremely vulnerable to exploitation for a variety of reasons including unfamiliarity with their domestic and international rights, cultural and language barriers, and in many cases long work hours in isolation from their peers.”
The civil rights groups have demanded compensation for victims from the official's home country. “Such an approach would be an important step towards ending abuse of domestic workers by diplomats.” Punishments like imprisonment may not be the desired goal of human rights campaigns.
In 2005 ACLU represented three Indian women, Kumari Sabbithi, Joaquina Quadros and Tina Fernandes, who were employed as domestic workers by Major Waleed Al Saleh and his wife Maysaa Al Omar of McLean, Virginia. The women were brought to the United States under false pretexts, and were subjected to physical and psychological abuse by the Al Saleh family and forced to work against their will. In the winter of that year, fearing for their lives, each of the women individually fled the household. The Kuwaiti government agreed to a confidential settlement with the women in February 2012. The successful settlement of this case demonstrates that diplomatic immunity does not deny victims of human trafficking and human rights abuses from obtaining justice. The rights groups, Safe Horizon, which represented Susan Richard, the complainant against Khobragade, called for a fair trial and compensation for Richard.
Financial settlement was also accorded when India’s second-largest outsourcing firm, Infosys, agreed to pay $34 million to complete a civil settlement and conclude investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and resolve all visa and I-9 issues with the U.S. Departments of State, Immigration and Homeland Security. It was the largest ever visa fine imposed by the U.S. government. Infosys denied and disputed any claims of visa fraud or immigration abuse. There were no criminal charges or court rulings against the Company.
It was alleged that Infosys illegally
placed workers with its American customers on short stay B-1 visas usually
meant for business visitors. The
investigation isn’t the first into the area of work visas. The Justice
Department investigated IBM for violating antidiscrimination rules by stating
visa preferences in job ads.
India is the biggest source of guest workers hired through
H-1Bs, a non-immigrant specialist visa that lasts three to six years. Indians
received more than half of the 106,445 first-time H-1Bs in the year ending
September 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Cognizant
is currently the largest recipient of H-1B visas. According to Gordon Coburn,
president of Cognizant, he used the program to find the skills necessary for
outsourcing tasks, not to replace U.S. workers.
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