There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the children of legal immigrants, a significant number of whom are Indian-Americans who came to the US with their parents at a young age and now risk being deported back to a country where they know no one once they turn 21.
There are about 250,000 such children of legal immigrants, a significant number of whom are Indians. The White House on Thursday blamed Republicans for the legislative impasse.
“I talked about the bipartisan agreement that we reached in the Senate, where we negotiated a process to help the so-called documented Dreamers. And sadly, the Republicans, and I’ve said this many times on this podium today, rejected it twice. They rejected it twice,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security, and Representative Deborah Ross, called on the Biden administration to take immediate action to protect the more than 250,000 documented Dreamers – children of long-term visa holders – who are at risk of being forced out of their dependent status and forced to self-deport if they are ineligible for another status.
“These young people grow up in the United States, complete their education in the U.S. school system, and graduate with degrees from U.S. institutions,” the lawmakers wrote in a June 13 letter to the Biden administration. “However, due to long-standing green-card backlogs, families with approved immigrant petitions often end up waiting decades for permanent resident status.”
Last month, Improve the Dream, an organization representing the children of these legal immigrants, met with more than 100 congressional offices and senior administration officials.
Deep Patel, founder of Improve the Dream, said, “The lack of action and related proposed regulations being deprioritized and delayed is disappointing. It is time for action and I hope President Biden and the administration will see the support from this bipartisan letter and show they care about one of the most bipartisan issues in Congress and correct the mistakes of the past.”
He also expressed gratitude to bipartisan members of Congress who wrote letters calling for immediate administration policy reforms and who are working to advance a permanent solution through Congress.
“I was forced to start visa-hopping to stay in this country when I was 20, right before I was a junior at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. I’m going to turn 27 this August. Soon, if my visa-hopping times are to be tangible, they will be even older than when I first came to the United States,” Zepherina, who is currently a graduate student pursuing her MBA at the University of Minnesota, Saint Mary’s, told PTI.
She came to the U.S. from India in 2005 at the age of 7. “I came under a dependent H-4 visa. My family applied for permanent residency in 2010, when I was 12, and I unwittingly fell in love with this country. Over the past 19 years, Minnesota has undoubtedly become my home,” she said.
“My young adult life has been a series of temporary measures to avoid self-exile. I graduate from my masters program in December, and I am once again at the crossroads of leaving my family, pets, friends, and the myriad reasons I call Minnesota home,” Zephrina said.
Pranitha, a cloud engineer based in Texas, came to the US with her family when she was 8 as a dependent on her parents’ work visas, and after living in the US for over 15 years, she is left with no clear path to permanent residency and has had to bounce from one visa to another to stay in the country and work.
Roshan was forced to leave the US last month. He was working at an American semiconductor manufacturing company. He came to the US at the age of 10 with his mother and brother on an H4 visa—he grew up in Boston and earned a degree in economics from Boston College in 2021.
Roshan grew up in the US for nearly 16 years, but aged out in 2019. He had to leave the US in June with no clear path to return to, live and work in, the only country he truly called home.
Without action, Patel said every day, young adults who were raised legally in the United States by skilled workers and small business owners are forced to leave the country, separating them from their families and eliminating their ability to contribute to the country.
The Administration has heard countless stories and examples of STEM and health care talent raised and educated in the United States (which makes up 87% of all people affected by aging, according to Improve the Dream’s survey) who are now contributing in other countries because of barriers in our legal immigration system.
Responding to a question, he said, “Our country is not only losing young talent who grew up and were educated here, but we are also losing many of their parents who have years of practical experience as small business owners or in fields like medicine, engineering and artificial intelligence. The economic case is clear and the moral case is also clear. It is common sense.”
“All of the major administrative actions have denied this population access to benefits while such relief tools are available and being used for others. Until Congress passes the bipartisan America’s Children Act, we need urgent action by the administration to prioritize this issue, which has bipartisan support from Congress and the general public, and which has clear economic benefits,” Patel told Press Trust of India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
