How Indians are going to be victims of Trump’s strict immigration policy

Although the victory of right-wing Donald Trump in the US presidential election caused concern in different parts of the world, many in India expressed their excitement. In particular, India’s hardline Hindu nationalist BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Trump’s victory with much sincerity.

Even Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that India is not among those who are worried about Trump’s victory. In addition, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first three heads of state or government who called Trump to congratulate him after the election results were announced.

Not only the political circles, but a large section of the Indian public, especially those who hold hardline political ideology, were also excited about Trump’s victory. They were hoping that Donald Trump, known as a fierce anti-China figure, would pull India closer to confront Beijing in the Indian Ocean region.

However, it seems that the sustainability of this excitement of Indians around Trump will not last long. Because India is one of the countries that is going to be the biggest victim of Trump’s strict immigration policy, which is known as anti-illegal immigration. Even the list of illegal immigrants that Trump can officially expel from the United States once he comes to power includes about 18,000 Indian citizens who are currently living in the United States illegally.

Not only that, Trump’s strict immigration policy may also break the dream of Indian IT workers to go to the United States. In addition, it will become more difficult for Indians to go to the United States with an ‘H-1B’ visa during Trump’s rule. The country’s IT workers mainly go to the United States with this ‘H-1B’ visa.

In addition, Donald Trump has warned of taking stricter measures to prevent illegal immigration into the United States through the Mexico and Canada borders. India is one of the countries whose citizens enter the United States using this route. According to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report for the last three years, ICE has apprehended an average of 90,000 Indian immigrants illegally entering the United States through the Mexico and Canada borders every year. This means that on average, ten Indians are apprehended by US border guards every hour while illegally entering the United States.

Half of the Indian immigrants apprehended while illegally entering the United States are from the state of Gujarat, the birthplace of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition, a significant number of Indians are from the state of Punjab. However, these two states are considered relatively prosperous and advanced regions of India.

The lack of good governance and economic uncertainty in India are mainly causing disillusionment among the country’s middle class, especially the educated middle class, with regard to their own country. As a result, many middle class Indians, thinking about the safe future of their families and children, are unable to enter the United States legally and choose the dangerous path of entering the country illegally. Many Indians have even faced death while illegally entering the United States through the Mexican border.

In addition, a huge amount of money has to be handed over to human trafficking brokers to enter the United States. According to information provided by the Indian media, the amount in some cases exceeds $ 70,000 per person.

It is believed that during the Trump administration, due to strict restrictions on tourist or ‘H-1B’ visas, it will become more difficult for Indian citizens to enter the United States with a valid visa or work permit. This may lead to more Indians crossing the border illegally and entering the United States.

During the Trump administration, not only new Indians hoping to immigrate, but also Indian citizens already residing in the country may suffer. Many of them are residing in the country with work permits. Many have applied for green cards to stay permanently. They may also be victims of Trump’s strict immigration policy.

Donald Trump has already announced the name of Tom Homan as the head of immigration in his cabinet. He is known as a staunch anti-immigration. During Trump’s previous term as president, he was the acting director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and gained notoriety for implementing Trump’s zero tolerance policy against immigrants in a very harsh and ruthless manner.

Tom Homan also adopted a particularly cruel policy of separating illegal immigrant parents from their children. Donald Trump has chosen this Tom Homan as his immigration chief.

Tom Homan has already pledged to conduct the largest operation in US history to remove illegal and undocumented immigrants. Indians are going to become one of the victims of these activities of the anti-immigrant Tom Homan. Most of whom came to the US on H-1B visas.

During Tom Homan’s tenure as acting director of ICE, the rate of rejection of ‘H-1B’ visa applications in the US increased. In addition, Tom Homan made it difficult for foreign nationals working in the United States with work permits to issue new work permits or extend their visas, or to bring their relatives to the United States. Therefore, the appointment of Tom Homan as the head of ICE is naturally worrying for US immigration seekers.

In this regard, Stephen Yale Loyer, a professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School in the United States, said that both illegal and legal immigrants will be affected during Trump’s second term. During Trump’s first term of presidency, one of the most affected by his immigration policies were workers coming to the United States with H-1B visas. Along with the increase in the processing time of their visas, the rate of visa rejections also increased. His administration is going to do the same in Trump’s second term of presidency.

On the other hand, the United States is the largest consumer of India’s $254 billion IT industry. The contribution of Indian IT companies to the US GDP is about $80 billion. Experts believe that if Donald Trump repeats the same policy as his first term on H-1B visas, it will have the biggest impact on Indian IT companies.

In this regard, Cyrus D. Mehta, managing partner of New York-based law firm Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners, told the Times of India, “Indian IT companies will be affected by the impact of Trump’s strict immigration policy. We have faced this experience during Trump’s first term.”