Why Thousands Of Indians In US Face Deportation Risks

Amid US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, over one lakh children of Indian H1-B visa holders in the United States are reportedly facing the risk of self deportation from America. These individuals migrated to America with their NRI parents on dependent visas, which would expire as soon as they turn 21. 

"Aging out is when a child dependent on a visa holder turns 21 and ages out of that status. Due to the green card backlogs, there are many Indians who are on H-1B for a long time, sometimes decades but their young children who were brought lawfully to the United States, have grown up on a H-1B dependent visa. Even though they have a green card petition pending, if that child turns 21 before the parent receives the green card, that child will age out and face self deportation. That means, to avoid making it documented that the individual has to leave the country or find another way to stay", Dip Patel, Founder and President of Improve The Dream said. Improve The Dream, a grassroots organisation that supports and advocates for young immigrants who have grown up in the United States as children of long term visa holders, but face aging out of the immigration system.

There are nearly 1.34 lakh Indian children in the US who are expected to age out of dependent visa status before their families obtained green cards, Times of India (TOI) reported citing data from March 2023. Dependent children of H-1B visa holders can migrate to the US under the H-4 visa programme. But this provision expires as soon as they turn 21. 

DACA

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was a program for undocumented children that were brought here, they had an option to get a 2 year work permit and protection and be able to renew it every 2 years. However, there is a Texas court case that is against DACA, and it is under threat.

Green Card Backlog

Meanwhile, the queue for the Green Card is showing no signs of easing. According to a report by Economic Times, at present, 10.7 lakh Indians are caught up in the employment Green-Card backlog (EB-2 and EB-3 categories), which will take 134 years to process.