Raj Thakur is under pressure, concerned, and most of all, enraged. Thakur, an IT engineer from Seattle, was one of the 18,000 workers that amazon fired in what was the biggest single-shot reduction by any firm since Meta fired 11,000 workers in november 2022 to start the ongoing wave of layoffs.
Thakur, however, is not upset with amazon because that is simply the way private sector businesses operate. He is "upset" because a US law forbids him from applying the same fairness to his job hunt that American workers in the same circumstances and with comparable skill sets are entitled to, most notably, time.
Thakur has 60 days from the date of his layoff to find new employment in the US with an employer who will hire him on an H-1B non-immigrant short-term visa for foreign workers and, hopefully, file the paperwork required for him to maintain his place in line for a Green Card, which grants permanent residency.
Thakur fears the worse-case scenario. His wife, who is working on a work authorization for H-1B dependents, will also lose her job and go out of status if he doesn't find another job in these 60 days. Worst of all, the family will have to leave the US, sell their home, cars, and everything else they have accumulated over the past 11 years that they have lived here, and return to india with their two children who were born here and are American citizens and who have known no other country. There are only 60 days left, or whatever is left of that time, that separate him from that possibility.
Thakur, however, is not upset with amazon because that is simply the way private sector businesses operate. He is "upset" because a US law forbids him from applying the same fairness to his job hunt that American workers in the same circumstances and with comparable skill sets are entitled to, most notably, time.
Thakur has 60 days from the date of his layoff to find new employment in the US with an employer who will hire him on an H-1B non-immigrant short-term visa for foreign workers and, hopefully, file the paperwork required for him to maintain his place in line for a Green Card, which grants permanent residency.
Thakur fears the worse-case scenario. His wife, who is working on a work authorization for H-1B dependents, will also lose her job and go out of status if he doesn't find another job in these 60 days. Worst of all, the family will have to leave the US, sell their home, cars, and everything else they have accumulated over the past 11 years that they have lived here, and return to india with their two children who were born here and are American citizens and who have known no other country. There are only 60 days left, or whatever is left of that time, that separate him from that possibility.
