Sundar Pichai,Tim Cook applaud Joe Biden's immigration reforms

US IT sector and business groups, including technology giants Google and Apple, have applauded President Joe Biden's steps to initiate immigration reforms, underlining that the move would boost American economy, create jobs and attract and retain the best talent from across the world.Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed President Biden's "commitment to pursuing comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the American values of justice, fairness and dignity". "This effort will strengthen American communities and the pathways to opportunity this country has long fostered," he said in a statement.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a tweet applauded President Biden's quick action on COVID relief, Paris climate accord and immigration reform."Google has supported action on these important issues & we look forward to working with the new administration to help the US recover from the pandemic + grow our economy, said Sundar Pichai. Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed President Biden's "commitment to pursuing comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the American values of justice, fairness and dignity".

 US tech companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft employ a huge number of IT professionals from countries like India and China."The Biden-Harris administration's planned actions make important and overdue investments in immigration reforms that can successfully meet the demands of a globally competitive, digital economy, including expanded visa programmes for high-skilled workers and families," said Jason Oxman, president and chief executive officer of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). ITI is the global trade association for the tech sector, representing nearly 70 of the world's most innovative companies.

 President Biden sent a comprehensive immigration bill to Congress which proposes major overhauls to the system, including granting legal status and a path to citizenship to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and other groups and reduce the time that family members must wait outside the US for green cards.Called the US Citizenship Act of 2021, the legislation modernises the immigration system, and also proposes to eliminate the per country cap for employment-based green cards, a move that would benefit thousands of Indian IT professionals whose current wait period for legal permanent residency runs into several decades.