In what is considered to be the biggest comeback in the United States presidential election history, Donald Trump was announced the 47th President, however, victory remains a cause of worry for migrant couples, especially for the Indians because of a possible end to automatic citizenship for children. In the long list of agendas for the billionaire ahead, a top priority for him is to end automatic citizenship for children. The plan, posted on the official Trump-Vance campaign site, is to sign an executive order to this effect on Day 1 itself.The headache would not just be for illegal immigrants, it goes much further as the draft executive order reads, “It will direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic US citizens.”Read More: Donald Trump as US president. How your American dream will change nowWhat does the order mean?“The Trump plan suggests no automatic citizenship for children born in the US. This is almost certainly a contravention of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. A Supreme Court judgement is available to counter Trump’s misinterpretation," Rajiv S. Khanna, immigration attorney told TOI. Further talking about the legality of the step, Greg Siskind, immigration attorney said, “This will certainly be litigated as it violates the 14th Amendment. We will have to see if they go so far as to exclude children of people legally in the US."What does it mean for Indian diaspora?As the United Nations homes 4.8 Indian Americans, of whom 34% or 1.6 million were born in the US, the executive order when passed will be a major setback for the Indian diaspora. If this executive order is passed, going forward, children born to Indian couples, neither of whom is a US citizen or a green card holder (permanent resident) will not be eligible for automatic citizenship. Citizenship by birth at least gave the children of Indian couples waiting in queue for a green card a breather. If not they, at least their children were assured of stability on the immigration front.Indians get the short end of the stick when it comes to allotment of green cards – many working in the US on H-1B visas are caught in a decades-long backlog. The annual cap for employment-based green cards is set at 140,000, plus any unused family-sponsored green cards that may be allocated to this category. Additionally, no country can receive more than seven per cent of the total green cards in either the employment or family-based categories. This restriction disproportionately affects Indian applicants in the employment-based category.A study by David J. Bier, director, immigration studies at Cato Institute quoted by ToI shows that the employment based green card backlog from India (EB-2 and EB-3 skilled category) has crossed one million in March 2023. If factors such as death and ageing out are considered (which will lead to these individuals dropping from the backlog statistics) the wait for a green card is 54 years, else it is a whopping 134 years. Nearly 4.14 lakh Indians waiting in this category will die before they receive a green card and more than a lakh children of Indian families will age out (turn 21) and their dependent visa will no longer be valid and they will drop off the green card queue.(with ToI inputs)
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