First and foremost , they cannot start new ventures and cannot hire more American workers.

They have no option but to continue in the same roles in an indentured servitude. This not only hurts their career aspirations, but more importantly it puts American workers/citizens at a greater disadvantage as well, such scenarios where employees stuck in green card backlog continues in the same role for years without career advancements facilitates wage suppression.

They cannot change employers, accept role changes/promotions easily and if they do, they’ve to start green card process all over again.

Since visa revalidation has been discontinued inside US, if they travel outside the country, they’ve to spend days in getting their passports stamped every 3 years and sometimes get stuck outside USA for weeks and months in background checks and admin processing. This also results in inconveniences for the US Company as the employee is unable to join his work place and continue work.

Some employers do discriminate when it comes to career growth, promotions. Often when they try to give promotions, they have to do lot of paper work with USICS which takes from months to years and costs a lot of money. This acts as a deterrent in career progression leading to wage depression across the board even hurting American employees.

Impact on the family is even more brutal. If these high-skilled workers have kids born outside US, when applying for colleges they are considered international students in spite of spending most of their lives in United States. As a result, they are not eligible for any state tuition, scholarships and federal funded research programs. When they turn 21, they have to completely come out as dependent from their parent’s visa and have to find an employer who can file for their work visa. Work visas are currently awarded on the basis of random lottery and hence if their work visa application is not picked up in the lottery, these kids have to self deport themselves outside the country in spite of spending most of their life in United States, legally. If they are lucky to have work visa picked in the lottery, to continue living in United States they have to rely on their employers to file their green card petitions and once filed, they have to stand in line behind everyone else in the same queue where they parents are waiting. Such discriminatory rules, completely shatters future of these H4 Dreamers.

Even the American born kids of these high-skilled immigrants face such uncertainties. If these high-skilled applicants were to lose their jobs even once during this decades long wait, they have no option but to sell their house, cars, assets and all our belongings at whatever price they get and leave the country and relocate with their families outside USA within 30 days. Many of them who have kids born in USA with US citizenship too are forced to relocate with them. They are born here and have been brought up here and do not know any other country other than the US which they call their home. Their lives will be impacted forever and it would be extremely unfair to them.