Seminar held on challenges faced by the Indian-American community

March 29, 2017

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Chicago Andhra Association along with Indian Community Outreach jointly held an Immigration Forum at the Aurora Fire office meeting hall March 5.

Chicago Andhra Association along with Indian Community Outreach jointly held an Immigration Forum at the Aurora Fire office meeting hall earlier this month. The March 5 forum was organized in wake of the recent incidents happening against the Indian-American community here, organizers said in a press release.

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner and Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy attended the event to extend their support to the community. Other attendees and speakers included Aurora Alderman Rick Mervine, Police Chief Kristin Ziman, TANA President Dr.Jampala Chowdary, Dr. Bharat Barai and Immigration Attorney Bhanu Illindra.

The program began with Sundar Dittakavi, president of Chicago Andhra Association and Krishna Bansal, president of ICO paying obituary to Srinivas Kuchibotla, who was recently shot dead in Kansas in hate-crime incident. They also prayed for the well being of Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot who were hurt in the incident and extended support to their families.

Alderman Mervine noted that America is home of immigrants, and these kind of Incidents need to be condemned, in which ever form they may happen. He also mentioned about his efforts in integrating Indian culture to locals in Aurora by conducting Diwali and Holi festivals for the past few years.

Police Chief Ziman has indicated the necessity of Integrating civilians with the police and cooperating with each other in emergencies. She said civilians should be able to approach the police without any fear, adding that her staff has been helping the community without any prejudice regarding nationality.

Chowdary, who visited the victim’s family soon after the incident explained what exactly happened there. He also suggested the action plan in case of such emergencies – hide, run and fight only if necessary is the best thing to follow until the authorities arrive, he said.

Attorney Illindra requested the attendees not to believe in false rumors on current immigration scenario. He emphasized that there is no threat to the highly skilled immigrants (H1B holders and Green Card Holders).