‘It’s tragic’: H-1B workers rushing back to US liken panic to Covid-era madness

Panic, confusion and anger reigned as workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the US after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees, in line with his wide-ranging immigration crackdown.

Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12.01am US Eastern Time on Sunday and telling them not to leave the country.

A White House official on Saturday clarified that the order applied only to new applicants and not holders of existing visas or those seeking renewals, addressing some of the confusion over who would be affected by the order.

But Trump’s proclamation a day before had already set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley.

Fearing they would not be allowed back once the new rule took effect, several Indian nationals at San Francisco airport said they cut short their holidays.

“It is a situation where we had to choose between family and staying here,” said an engineer at a large tech company whose wife had been on an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai that was scheduled to depart at 5.05pm local time on Friday.