Read on Twitter
1 - I& #39;m glad Business Insider wrote this story, but USCIS misled the reporter regarding a critical issue - If doctors in the US on visas die while fighting the coronavirus, their families could be forced to leave the country or face deportation https://www.businessinsider.com/foreign-doctors-roadblocks-to-helping-with-us-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-4?utmSource=twitter&utmContent=referral&utmTerm=topbar&referrer=twitter">https://www.businessinsider.com/foreign-d...
2 - USCIS claimed that surviving spouses and children of a doctor that dies can avoid deportation and go on to getting a green card based on the petition filed by the doctor before passing away. Not so (at least for the vast majority of the families).
3 - @USCIS referred the reporter to Section 204(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which has some protections for family members. It covers some folks with approved I-140 petitions but they must continue to reside in the US legally while they wait. But they can& #39;t do that.
4 - These doctors are often in 20 year waits for green cards and they stay legally on the basis of their H-1B, O-1 or other non-immigrant status. But the moment they die, their family members become undocumented. So they can& #39;t continue to reside here. Many will get deported.
5 - Congress needs to address this by ending the scandalous waits for physician green cards & build in protections for family members in this situation. God didn& #39;t speak to Congress in 1990 and say these quotas need to be in place for all time (some in Congress seem to think so).
6 - We need physician immigration provisions (and other protections for essential immigrant workers) in an upcoming COVID bill.
