P R I M E   C O N C E R N

immigration reform
In US for 10 yrs, finally an address to show
President Obama’s executive order to allow 50 lakh undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows is likely to affect several Indians too. Many of those who could benefit have been living illegally in the US for years together, hiding from the long arm of law.
By Ashish Kumar Sen
Balbir cannot remember the last time he slept past the break of dawn. Every day, for the past 13 years, this middle-aged Sikh from Ludhiana has tip-toed around his tiny one-room apartment in the inky black pre-dawn, careful not to wake his sleeping wife and young son, as he gets dressed to start the early shift at work. It’s a manoeuvre he knows well.

looking back, not turning back: A young girl interrupts President Obama’s speech and calls for an end to deportations. His order shields 50 lakh undocumented immigrants. ap

immigration reform
In US for 10 yrs, finally an address to show
President Obama’s executive order to allow 50 lakh undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows is likely to affect several Indians too. Many of those who could benefit have been living illegally in the US for years together, hiding from the long arm of law.
By Ashish Kumar Sen

Balbir cannot remember the last time he slept past the break of dawn. Every day, for the past 13 years, this middle-aged Sikh from Ludhiana has tip-toed around his tiny one-room apartment in the inky black pre-dawn, careful not to wake his sleeping wife and young son, as he gets dressed to start the early shift at work. It’s a manoeuvre he knows well.

Once out of his apartment, Balbir, who only agreed to give his first name, hops on to a bus which takes him to work at a convenience store in Greenbelt, a suburb of Washington, DC. He carefully counts the fare from among a wad of crumpled cash in his pocket. He has no credit cards to his name.

At work, Balbir has many duties. He takes turns manning the cash register, keeps a watchful eye on supplies shut behind a frosty refrigerator door promptly replenishing dwindling stocks, and helps out drivers using the adjoining petrol station. At the end of each month, Balbir’s employer hands him an envelope stuffed with cash. He doesn’t get a pay cheque.

Balbir is one of almost 450,000 undocumented Indians who live in the shadows in the United States of America. By law, he is not allowed to work.

On November 20, US President Barack Obama wielded his executive powers in the face of political gridlock in Congress over immigration reform. The President's executive order shields almost 50 lakh undocumented immigrants from deportation and allows them to legally work in the US for three years. This order has given hundreds of thousands of Indians, including Balbir, an opportunity to step out of the shadows.

Of the 450,000 undocumented Indians, 41 per cent will be eligible for relief because of Obama's order, according to the Pew Research Center.

Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), estimates that tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of undocumented Indians will be shielded from deportation and be able to legally work in the US. “That is huge,” she says.

Sheela Murthy, an immigration attorney based in Owings Mills, Maryland, says that as long as undocumented immigrants satisfy certain criteria, they will be eligible to apply for employment authorisation. “It will bring them out of the shadows and require them to pay taxes,” adds Murthy. “It is really going to make a difference because they are no longer going to be in hiding, they are no longer going to be worried about deportation.”

Obama’s order has sparked interest and many questions from within the Indian community. While the President outlined the big picture, the details, including the forms to be filled and fees to be charged, have not been published. Most of those rules and regulations are expected to be finalised within six months, putting the deadline at May 20 next year.

However, even before Obama announced his order, some unscrupulous lawyers and people passing themselves off as immigration experts began exploiting undocumented immigrants. Notices have been posted warning immigrants that they have two weeks to register with a lawyer, or else they will miss the government deadline. Hundreds of dollars in fees are demanded for a chance to immediately legalise the client’s status. “Beware,” Murthy warns, “there’s nothing that you can actually file today to get into status tomorrow.”

Immigration fraud is common across America. A large number of immigrants have been deported or served deportation notices because their lawyers either duped them or improperly filed their applications. “By and large, you cannot undo the damage,” says Fahd Ahmed, acting executive director of DRUM — South Asian Organizing Center, an organisation of low-wage South Asian immigrant workers and youth in New York city.

While advocating for the rights of immigrants, legal as well as undocumented, most South Asian groups do not dissuade the community from encouraging friends and family members to stay on illegally in the US. “A lot of time people come because they are forced to come. Their conditions are such that they are either unsafe back home or economic conditions are forcing them to leave,” points out Ahmed, who came with his family from Pakistan to the US at the age of 11 as an undocumented immigrant in 1991. As a young boy in Oklahoma, he remembers living in fear and always worrying about what to say at school, within the community, and in encounters with the police.

It is important for undocumented persons to be part of an organisation that provides them a security network and keeps them apprised of how to protect themselves, feels Ahmed. DRUM — South Asian Organizing Center has around 2,400 members, almost half of whom are undocumented. “The conversation we have is, ‘OK you’re undocumented. Where do you go to learn about your rights, the limitations of your rights, and how to protect yourself; and who is going to have your back if something happens to you?’” says Ahmed.

Balbir, meanwhile, has never before felt bold enough to share his story beyond a tightly knit circle of friends and family. That’s changed with Obama’s announcement. He is hopeful that he will now get a chance to start life afresh and live the American dream.

If he could, would he change anything in his past? “I had no choice. I had to come to America to give my family a better life,” he says. “Now I’ll find out if that is possible.”

410 Indians were deported last year

Barack Obama has not always been viewed as a friend of the immigrant community. More than 20 lakh people have been deported since he came to office in 2009. That number, says an expert, is higher than the record of the past three US Presidents combined. In 2012, 413 Indians were deported, while 410 Indians were deported in 2013. Defending his record, Obama said, “The truth is, undocumented workers broke our immigration laws. And I believe they should be held accountable.” Authorities will now focus on deporting criminals, not children.

 

The desire in our community for families to be together is extremely strong and critical to the South Asian family unit, and has been driving Indian and South Asian migration to the US. Much of the undocumented Indian population is a long-standing one. There are folks who have been here 10, 15, 20 years, many of whom have US citizen children or have family members who are US citizens or legal permanent residents. Suman Raghunathan, executive director, saalt

 

All is not hunky-dory, President Obama is facing opposition over his immigration initiative. Documenting the invisible Undocumented immigrants are vulnerable to exploitation by employers, and sexual harassment and abuse in their relationships as they are often reluctant to report crimes out of fear that they may be deported Most undocumented immigrants work in restaurants, convenience stores, newsstands, sari shops, as domestic workers, on construction sites, or drive cabs There are many instances where people have worked for months without pay. Others are physically and sexually harassed at their workplace In New York’s Jackson Heights, immigrant workers get paid as little as $5 to $5.50 an hour, well below the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 and New York’s minimum wage of $8 an hour Welcome news if with H-1B visa There is some good news for highly-skilled Indian immigrants on H-1B visas and their spouses on H-4 visas. President Obama’s immigration action allows some high-skilled workers on H-1B visas to change employers, permits spouses of some H-1B visa holders to legally work in the US, and clarifies the Department of Homeland Security’s guidance on temporary L-1 visas for foreign workers who transfer from a company’s foreign office to its US office. Workers on H-1B visas, who until now have been tied for years to their employers, often face the prospect of exploitation and long hours of work. Many are paid a lower wage than their US-born colleague who is doing the same job. The decision on H-4 visa holders is expected to be implemented by January at the latest.

Punjabis dominate list of illegal Indian immigrants

It is hard to get a precise snapshot of the regional breakup of undocumented Indians in the US, but this group appears to be dominated by Sikhs and Punjabis, according to members of the community. Such anecdotal assertions were underscored by the case of around three dozen Sikh men who were detained in El Paso, Texas, last year.

The young Sikh men fled India early in 2013 seeking political asylum in the US. Their journey took them through Central America, Mexico, and across the border into the US. They were detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing centre in El Paso, Texas. The men went on hunger strike in April to protest their almost year-long detention. Some ended up being hospitalised.

“In terms of border crossings, there definitely is a pattern of Indian Sikhs, not just the stories of detainees in El Paso, but even what we are seeing in New York… from among Indians, most are Punjabi Sikhs,” says Fahd Ahmed, acting executive director of DRUM — South Asian Organizing Center. About a year ago, there was an influx of Gujaratis, but that appears to have been an isolated wave, he adds.

Sikhs, like most other immigrants, come to the US driven by a variety of motivations, primarily a search for better economic opportunities. “It is the quintessential story. It is the same set of hopes and dreams that drove my parents to come to the US from India 44 years ago,” points out Suman Raghunathan of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).

Many Indians also come to be reunited with their families. “There are folks who have been here 10, 15, 20 years, many of whom have US citizen children or have family members who are US citizens or legal permanent residents,” she says.

“The desire in our community for families to be together is extremely strong and critical to the South Asian family unit, and has been driving Indian and South Asian migration to the US,” she adds.

A small number of Indians enter the US by illegally crossing the border. A majority come on valid visas and stay on after expiry. Undocumented Indians tend to be based in areas where large Indian-American communities are already present.

 

Crossing the line A small number of Indians enter the US by illegally crossing the border. Most came on valid visas and stay on after the visas expire. Undocumented Indians tend to be based in areas where large Indian-American communities are present. These include the metropolitan areas of New York-New Jersey; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina; Chicago; and in California and Washington state. Illegal entry just got harder Barack Obama’s order will provide more resources to law enforcement to stem the flow of illegal crossings at the US border, speed up the return of those who do manage to make it across, and make it easier for high-skilled immigrants to stay in the US While it would be politically suicidal to overturn Obama’s executive order, advocacy groups are mindful that lingering doubts over its fate could dissuade some undocumented workers from coming forward SAALT is putting together a network of immigration lawyers to help undocumented persons make an informed decision about whether they should step out of the shadows