‘No one knows who will be targeted’: N.J.‘s Indian community fears ICE raids

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Aggressive immigration enforcement actions have ignited concerns among New Jersey’s
undocumented Indian community, many of whom entered the country on special visas.
“The main concern is no one knows who will be targeted and when or how ICE officers can detain someone, ” said Dr. Tushar Patel, president of the nonprofit Indo-American Cultural Foundation of Central Jersey, which promotes Indian culture, heritage and art in New Jersey.

“Considering the large number of undocumented migrants from the Indian community in New Jersey, concern is always there, as most of the undocumented have no criminal history and are law-abiding people working to support their families back home in India,” Patel said.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stepped up its efforts with everything from daily (ICE) raids to proposed plans to open more immigration detention facilities.

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Among them were Indian nationals who were placed on military planes and flown to India. Reuters reported that the first 104 people were deported the first week of February.

She said one of the biggest concerns is fear of getting picked up by ICE, being separated from their families, and put on a plane back to India.

“I think what they’re also not talking about in the media is that there are Due Process rights. So, you can file a claim if you want to remain here in the United States,” Parikh said. “But people need to be able to know what their rights are and know what options are available to them.”

About 72% of Indian nationals in the United States receive H-1B visas, which allow U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website

If their employer is satisfied with their performance, Parikh said H-1B visa holders can eventually apply for a Green Card, enabling them to live and work permanently in the U.S.

“We have professionals who are waiting 10 to 20 years, who’ve been working here legally, paying taxes, buying homes…but they cannot get their green cards for long periods of time,” she said.

Parikh said among the undocumented are people who come to the United States as students and graduate but can’t get a job under the H-1B visa program and end up overstaying the time permitted in the country.

“They fight like (crazy) not to become undocumented,” she said. “They didn’t spend all this money to come to school here and then become out of status.”

In addition, she said people become undocumented for multiple other reasons, including losing a job permitting them to be in the country under an H-1B visa, having a documented spouse lose their job, or divorcing a documented immigrant spouse.

“Say you have a spouse here on a work visa, and you’re on a dependent work visa, and then get a divorce,” Parkih said. “So your status as the wife (or husband) is lost because you had it” due to your spouse’s work visa status.

Parikh said someone could also become undocumented if they were brought to the U.S. as a minor child and do not have information to seek U.S. citizenship.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla became New Jersey’s first Sikh-elected mayor in 2017.

“This current Trump Administration taking this approach of shooting first and aiming later, it’s something that, frankly, when applied, is highly un-American,” he added.

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