Washington DC: There does not seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel for children of legal immigrants, a large number of whom are Indian Americans, who arrived in the US as a child and now risk being deported back to India after they turn 21.
According to figures in Forbes Magazine, after analyzing US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) discovered that over 1.2 million Indians—including dependents — were still waiting for green cards under the EB1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories.
"I was forced to start visa-hopping to be able to stay in this country when I was 20 years old. I am about to turn 27 this August. Soon, if my time visa-hopping was personified, they would be older than I was when I first came to the United States," Jefrina, currently a graduate student pursuing an MBA at the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota told PTI.
She came to the US from India in 2005 as a seven-year-old under a dependent H-4 visa. Her family had applied for permanent residency in 2010 when she was 12 years old. Jefrina’s story is one of over 250,000 ‘Documented Dreamers’ - children of long-term visa holders - who are at risk of aging out of their dependent status and are forced to self-deport if they are ineligible for another status.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers, led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representative Deborah Ross, called on the Biden Administration to take urgent action to protect the ‘Documented Dreamers’, which has been stuck in a legislative impasse.
Last month, Improve The Dream, an organization representing the children of legal immigrants met with over 100 congressional offices and senior administration officials.
“It is disappointing to see the lack of action and associated proposed regulations deprioritized and delayed. It is time for action and I hope President Biden and the administration see the support from this bipartisan letter and show they care about one of the most bipartisan issues in Congress and rectify the mistakes of the past," said Dip Patel, founder of Improve The Dream said.
