WASHINGTON – At least 800 Indian-Americans participated in a march outsidethe White House on Saturday raising slogans in support of U.S. PresidentDonald Trump’s proposal to implement a “merit-based” immigration system inthe country and demanding discontinuation of country quotas for Green Cardapprovals.- The Hindu
Indian applicants are at a disadvantage under the current approval systemthat limits the number of Green Cards issued to individual countries at9,800, while more than 50,000 of them newly join the queue each year. TheTrump administration has not indicated its views on this issue, butmarchers in front of the White House said the President’s declaredpreference for “merit-based” immigration would tilt the balance in theirfavour.
“Trump loves Hindus,” “Trump loves India,” “Trump bringing Ram Rajya,”“Indians love Trump,” said the slogans at the march organised under thebanner of the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC), an organisation led byChicago-based businessman Shalabh Kumar who is close to Mr. Trump. Themarchers were all Indian technology workers who had come from all over theU.S. — California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey,Illinois and New York.
Krishna Bansal, National Policy and Political Director of RHC, said Mr.Trump’s proposal to end family unification immigration would open up morespace for Indian skilled workers. Nearly half of the one million GreenCards issued every year goes to close relatives of American citizensregardless of their skills and the Trump administration wants to restrictthis practice. “Thirty per cent of the country’s skilled immigrants comefrom India, but they have to wait several decades before being eligible forGreen Cards. These are people who are already here, contributing to theeconomy, paying their taxes and raising their families,” he said. He saidthe group supported the proposal for building a wall on the U.S. southernborder with Mexico and ending the diversity lottery programme for GreenCard allotment. The marchers supported the ending of what theadministration calls ‘chain migration.’
Krishna Mullakuri, whose application for Green Card is pending for fiveyears, agreed with the view. He said the emphasis on merit as the primarycriteria for allowing new entrants into the country would work to India’sadvantage.
The march on Saturday, while endorsing Mr. Trump’s approach to immigration,was to highlight the issues concerning the legal residents who are alreadyin the country. “While the current discussion is primarily focussing onthose who illegally entered the country, we are working with the lawmakersto get some attention on this group that reached this country legally butface uncertainty now,” said Mr. Bansal.
The immediate immigration question in America is about undocumentedresidents who were brought to the country illegally when they werechildren, a cohort termed ‘dreamers.’ A protection provided to them underan Obama era executive action will end in March if new legislative actionis not taken. The administration has offered a path to citizenship for 1.8million undocumented residents if the Democrats agreed to tougherrestrictions on legal immigration and enforcement. The marchers supportedthis policy. “Dreamers pay for the wall,” and “Make American strong again,”they shouted. Mr. Bansal said the President’s proposals were generous andthose being offered a path to citizenship would be happy to pay a fees thatwould fund the wall.
An issue of particular concern for several of the marchers was the futureof their children, who will lose their dependency status when they turn 21.“These are legal dreamers. Colleges are reluctant to admit them as theirvisa status has to be changed midway through the course. And once they aregraduates, they go back to the end of the queue, again starting with anH-1B application,” said Ramesh Ramanath, who grew up in Chennai. “Whilethey address the issue of dreamers, this question also should getpriority,” he said.