Immigration Policies Weigh on Indian Workers Seeking Green Cards

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from India, may never get their green cards. Now some are losing their temporary work visas while waiting.

That’s not just bad news for the workers. It also affects employers, mostly in high-tech industries, who say they have demonstrated they need high-skilled foreign workers.

The situation is an outgrowth of a decadeslong backlog in green cards combined with tough new U.S. immigration policies that implement a 2017 executive order directing the government to ensure that businesses prioritize the hiring of U.S. workers.

As the Trump administration continues to clamp down particularly hard on the ...