Washington: Democratic presidential nominee and former US Vice President Joe Biden has stated that he will lift a temporary suspension on H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, if he wins the November presidential polls.

On June 23, in a huge blow to Indian IT professionals look at the US employment market, the Trump administration halted the H-1B visas along with other types of foreign work visas until the end of 2020 to safeguard American workers in a crucial election year.

Mr. Biden, in a digital town hall meeting on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues organized by NBC News, praised the contribution of H-1B visa holders.

“He (US President Donald Trump) just ended H-1B visas the rest of this year. That will not be in my administration,” Joe Biden, 77, said responding to a question during the town hall. He was referring to a temporary suspension of the H-1B visas and other foreign work visas by Trump for the rest of the year.

“The people on the company visa have built this country,” Mr. Biden said when asked what his government will do in the first 100 days of his presidency.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology firms depend on it to hire tens of thousands of workers each year from countries such as India and China.

“On day one, I”m going to send the legislative immigration reform bill to Congress to provide a roadmap to residency for 11 million illegal migrants who contribute so much to this country, including 1.7 million from the AAPI community.

“My immigration policy is built around keeping families together, modernizing an immigration system by keeping families, unification, and diversity as pillars of our immigration system, which is used to be,” Mr. Biden said.

He alleged that Donald Trump’s immigration policies are cruel.

Mr. Biden said that he will take immediate action to protect dreamers, including more than 100,000 eligible dreamers from East and South Asia.

The former US Vice President also said that he will rescind the Muslim travel ban and immediately restore refugee admission in line with the values and historic leadership of the United States.

Donald Trump, in April, gave an executive order to suspend green cards for 90 days. In June, he issued a proclamation which extended the suspension till December 31, 2020.

Joe Biden is challenging the 74-year-old Republican incumbent President Donald Trump in the November 3 presidential elections where Trump is seeking his re-election for his second four-year term.

Mr. Biden also told town hall participants that he will “make it easier for qualified Green Card holders to move through this backlog.”

The US every year allocates only 1,40,000 green cards for all employment-preference immigrants, including accompanying family members.