Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar has called on the United States to eliminate country-based green card quotas and accelerate visa processing, arguing that skilled immigrants are essential to sustaining American economic growth and job creation. The Democratic lawmaker from Michigan made the remarks in an interview, ahead of the US marking the 250th anniversary of its independence.

The Case Against Country Quotas

Under the current US employment-based immigration system, annual permanent residency visas are capped per country of origin — a structure that has produced some of the longest wait times in the world for applicants from India, who constitute a disproportionately large share of highly skilled foreign professionals in the country.

'We need to process visas quicker. We need to get rid of country quotas so we can get the skilled workforce our businesses need,' Thanedar said. He noted that US companies continue to report significant difficulty sourcing workers with specialised technical skills.

What Silicon Valley CEOs Are Saying

'Every time I go meet Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, CEOs, they all tell me about how difficult it is to get a skilled workforce,' Thanedar said. He emphasised that Indian and Indian-American professionals have been particularly critical to the technology sector, adding: 'Silicon Valley could not survive without immigrants, especially Indian, Indian Americans.'

This concern is not new — industry bodies and tech employers have lobbied for quota reform for over two decades, with little legislative movement. The per-country cap was originally designed to prevent any single nationality from dominating immigration flows, but critics argue it now penalises high-demand, high-skill cohorts.

Train Americans First, But Don't Wait

Thanedar was careful to frame immigration not as a replacement for domestic workforce development, but as a bridge. 'The only way we can get those skilled workforce businesses need is to train Americans for these skills, and until such thing happens where there are enough Americans, we need to continue to encourage immigrants to come and contribute to our economy and contribute to our GDP and help create more American jobs,' he said.

This dual-track argument — invest in domestic training while keeping immigration pathways open — mirrors positions taken by several moderate Democrats and some Republicans, though comprehensive immigration reform has stalled repeatedly in Congress.

Fighting Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in Congress

Thanedar also raised concern about what he described as a broader shift in public and political attitudes toward immigrants. 'Currently there is such a wave of anti-immigrant attitude all across America,' he said. 'And what I'm doing is in fighting, I'm in Congress, I'm fighting to restore the respect for immigrants.'

He pointed to Indian-American entrepreneurs as emblematic of immigrant contribution: 'These are people who have worked hard to build businesses all across America, and they symbolise what immigrants have done for this country.'

What Comes Next

No specific legislative timeline was offered, and quota reform bills have historically struggled to advance in a divided Congress. However, as the US approaches its 250th independence anniversary, Thanedar's push reflects a growing chorus within the Democratic Party — and parts of the business community — to modernise an immigration framework widely seen as outdated. Indian professionals on employment-based green card queues could potentially wait decades under the current system, making reform a high-stakes issue for hundreds of thousands of applicants.