Donald Trump’s first week on the job was a busy one.
The newly-inaugurated president signed a flurry of executive orders during his initial days in the Oval Office, including a controversial immigration directive that plunged airports and federal agencies into a weekend of chaos. The order which rolled out with seemingly little planning and communication, effectively barred the citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States and shuttered the American refugee programme. It was closely followed by indications from the White House that Trump intended to tackle next the H1B programme, which allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialised occupations.
The mass overhaul of the immigration system has caused confusion amongst Indian immigrants and Indian-Americans in the US – some are witnessing first-hand discrimination at the hands of airport authorities, while others who are in the US as students or on H1B visas fear that their jobs might now be at stake. For many, the ban is hard to stomach simply from a humanitarian point of view.
Journalist Mythili Sampathkumar, for instance, was horrified to learn that her father – a US citizen for the last 17 years – was strip-searched at Washington DC’s Dulles International Airport before boarding a domestic flight, on the Sunday after the ban was announced. Despite having been approved for expedited security screening – a protocol given to passengers who have been deemed low risk – he was asked to step into a separate room and disrobe.
“My family isn’t actually angry at TSA [Transportation Security Administration],” she said. “They are not completely blameless but the search is indicative of Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants. I personally am well more frustrated with Indian-Americans who supported Trump – they are a minority within our community, but they are incredibly well funded. He’s divisive and racist and it’s ridiculous to simply think well, we’re not them – when it comes to xenophobia of other non-white immigrants.”
Sampathkumar decided to speak about her father’s experience, because she didn’t want it to become part of a silent trend. As an American citizen, she wanted to make sure she addressed issues that non-citizen immigrants might be uncomfortable talking about.
“I have to say the positive messages I received from Americans on Twitter far outweighed the negative,” Sampathkumar said. “A lot of the negative responses were from Indians and Indian-Americans who voted for Trump. I made it known that neither I nor my parents had voted for him.”
The other presidential promise that is causing alarm amongst Indian students and professionals is Trump’s vow to reform the H1B visa system. The H1B program allows for 85,000 visas to be doled out to high-skilled immigrant workers every year and is actively used by the Indian software industry. Reports that the new government is contemplating modifying the programme, unsurprisingly, led to a wave of panic across Indian IT companies and caused stock values to plunge.
“It’s outrageous to think of the number of Indian immigrants whose lives are at risk because of this ongoing nightmare,” said Shalini Rao, a student in San Francisco. “I specifically want to acknowledge the precarious position South Asian Muslims are in and the absolute injustice of that dynamic.”
Rao hopes to work in the US on the Optional Practical Training visa, an extension granted to students. She is uncertain whether these plans will pan out given the current political climate. Others on the OPT programme worry that their chances of transitioning to an H-1B visa, which is a more permanent option, will be drastically reduced if Trump’s administration tweaks visa regulations.
It is still unclear what these changes might be. Trump himself has gone back and forth on his stance on the H1B, but a draft proposal of the order reviewed by Bloomberg, states that visa programmes will need to be implemented in a manner that protects American workers first. Meanwhile, members of the Congress have also pushed for bills which would effectively force employers to prioritise American workers when looking to fill positions, or even raise the salary cap for the H1B to $130,000 a year – more than double of the current salary requirements.
All of which puts Indian immigrants in a bind.
“I suddenly feel less welcome in this country than I did before,” said Jaideep Khare, currently working on an OPT visa in San Francisco. “Talks of a salary cap will imply that only tech or finance industries can afford to hire on a large scale. Although the laws won’t really change a whole lot as far as privileged tech folk are concerned, I feel more and more like an outsider just based on how immigrants are being talked about by the administration.”
Joshua Jacob, a technical consultant in New York, came to the US to study and is also currently working on an OPT visa. Trump’s executive orders, Jacob said, are disgusting on a human level, but would also have economic repercussions for both the US and India.
“If anything, it’ll be hugely detrimental to the American economy,” Jacob said. “It’s a policy that appeals to his base support, but like most of his policies, if you actually look at likely outcomes, it’s probably going to hurt America – in particular, the Americans who voted for him. Several immigrants have created valuable companies and I doubt many of them started off with a $130,000 per year salary – that’s a huge opportunity cost he’s going to be foregoing.”
Swati Ravindran*, who moved to the US three years ago to study and is currently working as a data analyst with a financial firm, said that her friends were panicked when news of the immigration orders first began to trickle in.
“I feel some of the news is an extrapolation by people and changes to H1B might not be as bad as we anticipate,” she said. “Some companies are immigration independent and for my visa security, I’m trying to move to one of them.”
If the H1B salary cap were to increase, however, she is not sure what she would do.
“There is no way my employer would increase my salary to $130,000,” she said. “I don’t have a back-up plan.”
Her fears were echoed by many students and young professionals who are not in the IT sector. Aswath Ram, a Chicago-based management consultant, pointed out that his industry is unlikely to dole that much out to their employees.
“People in general are worried about travelling to and from India because of the ban,” he said. “I was worried about how this might affect lives of immigrants when it was first announced.”
Krutika Pathi, a New York-based journalist who came to the US to attend graduate school, was also concerned about how an H1B revamp would affect her chances of getting a job.
“If they increased the salary cap, there is no way I’d have a shot at being sponsored,” she said. “In general, the ban speaks to the country’s fear, which is severely misplaced and I think that if the country continues to push isolationist policies, it’s never going to be great again.”
Apart from personal concerns, the resounding response to Trump’s order was one of disapproval. Preeti Haldipur, who moved to the US 16 years ago and currently lives in Washington DC, said that the order is not what America stands for. She joined thousands of other protestors in front of the White House on Saturday, rallying against the order and everything it stands for.
“It doesn’t impact me directly, but it does affect me because I truly believe that injustice towards one is injustice towards all,” she said. “Today it’s Muslims and seven countries – tomorrow, it could be another religion and another group of people. It’s just not acceptable. This is not what this country stands for.”
She hopes that the on-going protests and rallies against the immigration order might help make a difference.
“The protests themselves might not move the needle directly, but they do make visible the lots of people who disagree,” she said. “Coming out in protest shows that there are others who feel the way you do, who share the same beliefs, and believe that this country is better than what the administration stands for.”
*Some names have been changed on request.