WASHINGTON (Diya TV) – President Donald Trump issued new orders Tuesday for a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigrantion, instantly striking a fear into the country’s population of 11 million illegal immigrants. The order put several communities across the nation on full alert, where they have spent years building families and livelihoods in their neighborhoods.
It’s undoubtedly the largest deportation threat immigrants from Mexico and Central America have faced in decades.
However, they won’t be only community that could be potentially impacted – nearly 300,000 Indian-Americans are likely to be impacted by Trump’s latest order. According to Homeland Security Department memos signed by Secretary John Kelly, any immigrant who is in the country illegally and is charged or convicted of any offense, or even suspected of a crime, will now be an enforcement priority.
“The department no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement,” the Department of Homeland Security said in an enforcement memo. “Department personnel have full authority to arrest or apprehend an alien whom an immigration officer has probable cause to believe is in violation of the immigration laws,” it said.
According to unofficial figures, the 300,000 Indians in the U.S. illegally could be immediately impacted by the memos. The Trump administration’s order overturns the Obama administration’s decision to allow spouses of H1-B visa holders to work in that country. According to The Economic Times, 90 percent of Indian technology workers in the U.S. use H-1B visas.
The current waiting period for an Indian to receive a green card is between 10 and 35 years, and could be set to increase if a bipartisan bill introduced by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton and Democratic Sen. David Perdue becomes law. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment, or RAISE Act, aims to significantly curve the amount of foreign talent domestic employers keep on staff, unless it’s an immigrant with a special skills-based visa.
“It’s time our immigration system started working for American workers,” Cotton said.
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a national South Asian advocacy organization, released a statement objecting to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) memoranda implementing President Trump’s executive orders on interior and border enforcement.
“The scale of the President’s anti-immigrant policies is extreme, and the new administration appears hell-bent on targeting and demonizing immigrant communities through orders that actively undermine safety and public trust in law enforcement,” stated Suman Raghunathan, Executive Director of SAALT. “Short-circuiting due process is not a crackdown on crime, but a crackdown on rights and our very founding values as a nation, and these measures must be opposed by all communities of color.”