Indian immigration conundrum 

Indian immigration conundrum 

Context:

• The recent President Donald Trump harsh rhetoric on securing America’s borders, not only through the southern border wall with Mexico, but also stricter enforcement of controls over legal migration has created much disturbance among the Indian-Americans.

The issue:

• Migration is the engine that powers the globally aspirational Indian of today.
• Historically, Indians have always been a vibrant immigrant community on distant shores, consistently maintaining deep familial and professional ties across the world.
• The President’s agenda called for a protest where a group of approximately 800 Indian-Americans gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House.

Divergence in views of protesters:

• The views of those protesters in Washington may represent the divergence between the needs of visa-holding “aliens”from India, and those of undocumented migrants to the U.S., an 11.4 million-strong population.

Undocumented workers:

• Undocumented workers seek the unrestricted right to enroll in educational institutions, work, marry, and own property.
• As well as access social security, health insurance, college tuition support, and other such welfare benefits that the federal government is required by law to provide to U.S. persons.

Non-immigrant workers:

• On the other hand, non-immigrant workers are focussed on attaining a higher level of access to and integration into their adopted home.
• They seek to convert their alien status into permanent resident or citizen status.

Conclusion:

• These aspiring migrants, who consider themselves to be on the “merit” side of Mr. Trump’s immigration paradigm, also separate themselves from the “family-based migrants,” who seek to immigrate legally to the U.S. based on the status of close family members and not work-related qualifications.