Trump's Immigration Overhaul: What It Means For Indian-Americans And Their American Dream

The massive victory of President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 US Presidential election has many tongues wagging. With just a few days left for Donald Trump to be sworn in as the 47th President of the US, he has started making his cabinet nominations.

Keeping up with his promises to the loyalists, Trump has made some unusual selections. While Vivek Ramaswami and Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Security, Fox news host and army national guard officer Pete Hegseth to become Secretary of Defence. Best known as anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be made the Secretary of Health and Human services and Kristi Noem to be the Secretary of Homeland Security.

A practicing Hindu and a democrat turned republican Tulsi Gabbard to become Director of National Intelligence. The most controversial nomination of all is now-Former Congressman Matt Gaetz as the next Attorney General. Gaetz was in the spotlight due to a House Ethics Committee investigation into sexual misconduct.

These nominations show that Donald Trump with his trifecta majority can implement most of the policy changes he promised during the election campaign. From mass deportation to ending birthright citizenship to removing the Federal Department of education and making H1B visas strict. Trump's new administration can be a game changer for the Indian immigrants living in the US.

According to data from the US census bureau the United States holds 4.8 million Indian-Americans as of 2022. While most of them are green card holders or citizens they have extended families who are still awaiting permanent residency and a large part of the Indian diaspora community in the US are non-citizens.

Starting with birthright citizenship law that says, if you are born in the United States you are a US citizen. This law is quite settled in the American constitution and has benefited many children born to non-American immigrant parents. President-Elect Donald Trump has long been a critic of this law and said that he would end birthright citizenship through an executive order. Now whether or not it is doable as it may attract some legal hurdles is a separate argument.

If Trump moves forward with his vow, it will be a big blow to many Indian immigrants living in the US on F1, H1B or O1 visas. This policy allows children born to documented and undocumented parents the right to citizenship. They receive all the benefits that a child born to a US citizen should get like proper health, education and government benefits.

Mass deportation is another campaign promise made by the Republicans during the 2024 election cycle. In fact most Americans believe that US borders have become extremely vulnerable and a breeding ground for crime.

Trump has responded saying "True!!" to a Truth Social Post by Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton, who said, "GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program."

Sara Sadhwani, a senior researcher at AAPI data, a group that provides information about Asian Americans said, "Approximately there are about 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, while most presume that they are predominantly from Latin America or Mexico there are certainly Indian American amongst them and over many years we have heard stories of undocumented Indian Americans as well."

However, Indian diaspora in the US are highly educated and are mostly documented citizens. Sadhwani added that if Donald Trump were to move forward with mass deportation it would send shock waves to many communities. While many Americans say that they want mass deportation, seeing mothers and children rounded up would most likely pull hard strings on Americans.

The third policy change that can severely affect Indian immigrants living in the US is making H1B or F1 visas strict. Getting a US visa even today is extremely difficult. Some Indian students on F1 visas believe that with Donald Trump winning this election has created a sense of uncertainty for them. Many companies are on a hiring freeze for international students as they are awaiting Trump's policy stance. Out of all the H1B applications approved in the year 2021, 74.1% were from India. This is the most convenient way in which Indians fulfill their American dream. On the Issue of H1B visas Sara Sadhwani said, "I don't know how this could be implemented without long term investment in the US educational setting. Elon musk being his greatest supporter and advisor has hired plenty of H1B visa holders to build many of his Tech companies." Now with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos by his side it would be interesting to see if Trump decreases hiring foreign talents in the US Science and technology companies.

While there is uncertainty amongst a section of the population living in the US, many Indian Americans, Latinos and Black Americans voted for Trump in the November Presidential election. There was a major shift amongst Latino men towards Trump as compared to the 2020 elections. Indian Americans also swayed towards Trump who are now the second largest Immigrant group in the US. Some feel that Trump's policies would cut unnecessary competition that is building due to the ease of visa distribution and undocumented immigrants.

Donald Trump's stance on gender identity issues are also largely supported by these communities and some feel that it's better for their kids to not be exposed to confusing gender identity terms at an early age. Some Americans also supported Donald Trump because they believe that he would be a better negotiator in handling overseas war. Most people think that it is a waste of US tax dollars and wish for wars to end.