The future remains uncertain for children of legal immigrants, many of whom are Indian-Americans brought to the U.S. at a young age. These children face deportation when they turn 21, as they age out of their dependent status. Approximately 250,000 of these children, a significant portion being Indian, are affected by this issue. The White House has attributed the legislative deadlock to Republican opposition.
“I talked about the bipartisan agreement that came together from the Senate where we negotiated a process to help the so-called documented Dreamers. And sadly, Republicans, and I’ve said this many times already at this podium today, which is that they voted it down twice. They voted it down twice,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during a press briefing.
In June, led by Senator Alex Padilla, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, and Representative Deborah Ross, a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers urged the Biden Administration to take swift action to protect over 250,000 Documented Dreamers—children of long-term visa holders at risk of aging out of their dependent status and facing self-deportation if they cannot secure another status.
“These young people grow up in the United States, complete their education in the American school system, and graduate with degrees from American institutions,” wrote the lawmakers. “However, due to the long green-card backlog, families with approved immigrant petitions are often stuck waiting decades for permanent resident status,” they noted in a letter to the Biden Administration on June 13.
Last month, Improve The Dream, an advocacy group for these children of legal immigrants, engaged 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.
Patel also expressed appreciation for the bipartisan members of Congress advocating for urgent administrative policy improvements and a permanent solution through Congress.
“I was forced to start visa-hopping to be able to stay in this country when I was 20 years old, right before I aged out, as a junior at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. 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,” shared Jefrina, a graduate student pursuing an MBA at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, with PTI.
Jefrina, who came to the U.S. from India in 2005 at age 7, described her experience: “I arrived under a dependent H-4 visa. My family applied for permanent residency in 2010 when I was 12 years old, and I unwittingly fell in love with this country. In the last 19 years, Minnesota has undoubtedly become my home.”
“My young adult life has been a series of temporary fixes to avoid self-deportation. I graduate from my Master’s program in December, and I’m yet again at the crossroads of leaving my family, pets, friends, and a myriad of unquantifiable reasons I call Minnesota my home,” she added.
Praneetha, a Cloud Engineer based in Texas, came to the U.S. at age 8 as a dependent on her parents’ work visa. After living in the U.S. for over 15 years, she faces no clear path to permanent residency and must continually hop from visa to visa to remain in the country.
Roshan, who was forced to leave the U.S. last month, had been working with an American semiconductor manufacturing company. He came to the U.S. at age 10 on an H4 visa with his mother and brother, grew up in Boston, and graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a degree in Economics. Despite living in the U.S. for nearly 16 years, Roshan aged out in 2019 and had to leave in June without a clear path to return, live, or work in the only country he has ever truly called home.
Patel emphasized that every day without action forces young adults, lawfully raised in the U.S. by skilled workers and small business owners, to leave the country, separating them from their families and preventing them from contributing to the nation.
The administration has heard numerous stories and examples of American-raised and educated STEM and healthcare talent, which comprises 87% of those impacted by aging out, now contributing in other countries due to barriers in the U.S. legal immigration system.
“Our country is not only losing young talent who were raised and educated here, but we’re also losing many of their parents, who have years of practical experience as small business owners or in fields like medicine, engineering, and artificial intelligence. The economic case is clear and the moral case is clear. It is common sense,” Patel stated.
“All major administrative actions have excluded this population from receiving benefit, despite the tools for such relief being available and being used for others. Until Congress can pass the bipartisan America’s Children Act, we need urgent action by the administration to prioritize this issue, which has bipartisan support from Congress and the general public, and clear economic benefit,” Patel told PTI.