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[quote=Anonymous]Today's Deeper Dive: The SCOTUS Case That Could Redefine U.S. Tech Immigration Policy

1. SCOTUS is weighing whether to hear an appeal in Save USA Jobs v. DHS—a case challenging work permits (H4-EAD) for the spouses of H-1B visa holders. The outcome could shake U.S. tech and immigration policy to its core.

2. The rule in question dates back to 2015, when Obama’s DHS let certain H-4 visa spouses get work permits. The eligibility: if the H-1B worker had a pending I-140 or PERM (Green Card steps) for a year+, or was stuck in the country caps backlog.

3. Why it mattered: The 2000 American Competitiveness Act (AC21) let H-1Bs extend visas indefinitely if a Green Card was pending. Combined with the H4-EAD rule, “temporary” visas became anything but temporary—especially for Indian tech workers in the U.S. The Green Card backlog contains 1.3 million Indians and their spouses/dependents as of today as well.

4. Context: AC21 was bipartisan, pushed by Republicans in the Senate and backed by Big Tech players like Sun Microsystems + Microsoft. Some Democrats opposed it, but there weren't enough of them to stop it. It also carved out a massive exemption: universities, nonprofits, and gov labs aren’t even subject to the H-1B cap.

5. Fast forward → Today:

~400k H-4 visas in effect

~250k of them have work permits

Of the 750k H-1Bs, 75% are held by Indians.
Net result: H-1B + H-4 effectively allow families to settle here permanently, riding the Green Card queue.

6. Reminder: EB (employment-based) Green Cards also let spouses + kids tag along. That’s outside AC21—but combined, these laws mean the whole family unit can stay and work indefinitely.

7. Enter the lawsuit. Save USA Jobs sued in 2015 to block H4-EAD. The Trump DOJ had to defend DHS—because by settled law, DOJ defends agencies on rule-making. They tried to kill H4-EAD by new rule, but Big Tech lobbying + bureaucracy stalled it.

8. Trump OMB deprioritized the rollback, assuming Save USA Jobs would win in court. But when the District Court rejected the challenge, the rule stood. The current Trump admin never circled back—political reality + tech donor pressure kept it shelved.

9. Now, the case is back at the gates of SCOTUS. If the Court agrees to hear it and rules that H4-EAD was illegal agency rule-making, it sets precedent to target other controversial programs—like OPT and OPT-STEM—for lawsuits.

10. Bottom line: This isn’t just about H-4 spouses. It’s about whether the courts will finally check decades of policy drift that turned “temporary” guest worker visas into a back-door permanent pipeline, heavily tilted toward one country. 63% of the current Green Card backlog is for Indians - how does this make any sense.

🔥 Tech workers, policymakers, and founders need to watch this one closely. It could reshape the labor market—and immigration law—for a generation.

[twitter]https://x.com/War4theWest/status/1972309714114371594[/twitter]
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