The move to rescind the H4 EAD has been underway for almost two years now, with no clear timeline of its end in sight. The Indian immigrant community has used this time to rally support for their cause.

Few rallies or protests outside government offices come with this movement. Apart from groups like Skilled Immigrants in America (SIIA), Save H4EAD or Immigration Voice, members supporting the cause function almost entirely through social media. They congregate on different chats across messaging apps like Whatsapp and Telegram, encouraging each other to share videos and pictures of visa holders explaining their cause.

"People are afraid there may be ramifications if they speak out against the government," Jansi Kumar, a volunteer with the group Save H4EAD, said. "Or worried it could negatively impact their green card processing."

Kumar refers to the complicated history behind the special work permit.

The lawsuit against the work permit by Save Jobs USA was appealed in 2016, with attorney John Miano representing the group.

Miano stresses that the H4 EAD is not exclusively the problem, but a number of other rulings which allow foreign nationals to work — including those made for undocumented residents and foreign students.

"You have to look at the bigger picture," Miano said. "We had the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program which authorized illegal aliens to work and the regulation to allow H4 visa holders to work. Then the Optional Practical Training program, where we allowed foreign students to remain after graduation and find jobs. There are no protections for American workers."

Though Miano opposes the work permits for spouses, opponents and supporters alike have no concrete solution to the decades-long green card backlog that was a primary reason for creating the authorization. Current data shows that Indian nationals now receiving green cards had priority dates set in 2009. Highly-skilled workers were worried their spouses would remain unemployed during the long waiting period and started to consider moving to other countries, according to a memorandum published by DHS. The work permit's creation helped offset this concern for many, the memorandum detailed.

Miano blames the backlog on changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act. In 2000, it was amended by the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act.

"Before that, you either came to the United States as an immigrant or a non-immigrant (allowed temporary stay)," he said. "The Immigration Act totally screwed that up by allowing H1-B workers to apply for green cards."

The backlog developed by 2000, according to Miano. Green cards are allotted by a country-of-birth quota, with each nation assigned 10% of the annual green cards issued. Making H1-B workers and their dependents eligible for this drastically spiked the applications, especially from India, he added.

"We're telling 80,000 people a year from India to apply for 9,000 green cards," Miano said.

Miano sees no immediate solution — except safeguarding the interests of displaced American workers, he said.

However, SIIA claims only 100,000 work permits have been granted since 2015, an insignificant number compared to other foreign nationals allowed to work.

Its core members, like President Anirban Das, form the original group of advocates who championed the cause of the special work permits before 2015. Now, they revisit the same fight in a different form.

Das had been in close contact with government officials in 2014 — like former USCIS director Leon Rodriguez, whom he met in person to express concern over dependent spouses. Along with other members from SIIA, Das has continued this campaign, meeting with senators and representatives across the country.

Responses from officials are celebrated as positive steps and shared immediately with other volunteers and group members. Pictures with representatives like Congresswoman Bonnie Coleman are strewn across their Facebook pages. Tweets and an official letter from Sen. Kamala Harris of California supporting dependent spouses went viral on Whatsapp and Telegram groups, with administrators encouraging members to retweet and spread word on their own accounts.

Save H4EAD organized messaging groups according to state and congressional district. Ranjana, an engineer who did not wish to share her last name, runs the California chapter of nearly 300 members.

She coordinates with the administrators of other state groups to send out a daily "tweet blast" with videos and photos members must retweet, sends out templates for letters they can write to government officials and organizes meetings in person with representatives who support their cause.

"Each state assigned themselves a week to go and meet with representatives," she said. "We met around 25 district leaders in California. Congressman Ro Khanna was extremely helpful, he asked how he could help."

In response to their concerns, Khanna — along with 15 other representatives from California — signed a state-wide letter that was sent to the Department of Homeland Security supporting the right of H4 spouses to work.

In March, their advocacy reached its most critical stage, one that called for more action than heavy social media engagement. The final proposed rule was submitted by DHS to the OMB for review, rallying the group to action.

"Once the OMB reviews the rule, it's published for public comments," Das explained. It's this stage that could decide whether the permits are revoked, he added.

"It's essentially like a written debate," he said. "DHS publishes their argument on why the H4 EAD should be rescinded, and we write back talking about why it should stay. We've spent the last few months developing guides on how people should comment with accuracy, because it's really the quality, not the quantity, that matters."

Getting dependent spouses to put a face to the fight still proved difficult. It took much convincing from Mahajan to rally a group of special permit workers to meet with government representatives in Washington, D.C.

"They finally relented because it would be in a closed space," she said. "There was no way to record them or pictures that would reveal who they were. A lot of them don't want their employees or business partners to know how shaky their work permits are right now."

In early March, a group of around 10 workers, mostly entrepreneurs, doctoral candidates and other business owners, met with officials from the OMB. Representatives from DHS and USCIS called in.

"We had around 100 pages of studies and data to show how beneficial the H4 EAD was to the economy," she said. "These are women who are middle of signing leases to get office spaces. They either employ American workers or plan to. Our point was to show the OMB that we're creating jobs for citizens, not taking them away."

The OMB has not made it clear when a final proposed rule will be published, said Das. For now, members are encouraged to educate themselves about the process of commenting — the most important action they can take.

Meghna Damani is working to extend this awareness to U.S. citizens as well, with her campaign, "Dear Citizen."

"I've had so many people come up to me and say, 'I can't believe this is happening in our country,'" she said. "You don't have to be an H4 EAD holder to comment, and that's what we're encouraging everyone to do right now."