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| Vice President candidate Kamala Harris is making a difference for Indian American voters. |
For Indian American voters, this November's election isn't just between Joe Biden and Donald Trump; it is also about choosing Kamala Harris or India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Republicans have tried to woo South Asian voters with a huge rally in Texas attended by Modi and 50,000 of his fans. A visit to India by a White House entourage headed by Trump was highly photogenic but produced little in trade or security agreements.
Joe Biden's selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate dampened the Republican outreach. Although Trump was able to make some inroads with the largely immigrant community from India, the electorate from that community have historically leaned Democratic.Indeed, a survey by YouGov, 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey, reported that 45% of respondents said that Harris’s nomination had made them more likely to vote, and 49% said they were more enthusiastic about supporting the Democrats.
Since the 2010 Census, the Indian American community has become the fastest growing immigrant group leapfrogged to become the second largest Asian American community (after the Chinese), with the highest income and the highest education levels among all ethnic groups, including Whites.
Since 2016, the largely first-generation immigrant Indian Americans have jumped into politics in a big way. Besides electing four Indian Americans to Congress in 2016, they have the possibility of adding three or four more members to the House and Senate. In addition, Indian Americans have gotten politically active in state and local elections.
The report also showed that respondents cared more about issues affecting the Indian American community -- such as health care, the economy and the environment -- than relations with India and Modi.
In addition to making the right noises on the campaign trail, Biden has released a policy document – reportedly the first-ever by a presidential candidate – aimed exclusively at Indians. Among other things, it mentions his plans to reform the H-1B visa system, increase the number of visas, and eliminate “the limits on employment-based green cards by country, which have kept so many Indian families in waiting for too long.” India has the longest waiting list for U.S. visas with some waiting as long as two decades.
“Joe Biden has made it crystal clear that he is going to turn the clock back and eliminate the anti-immigration proclamations/executive orders put in place by Trump,” said Sheela Murthy, president of Maryland-based Murthy Law Firm, one of the largest immigration firms in the U.S.
The report also showed that respondents cared more about issues affecting the Indian American community -- such as health care, the economy and the environment -- than relations with India and Modi.
Biden's campaign seems to sense this sentiment. On India's Indpendence Day, Biden said, “I know it is hard,” he said in a message. “My heart goes out to all those of you who have been the targets in the rise in hate crimes, the crackdown on legal immigration, including the sudden and harmful actions on H-1B visas that for decades have made America stronger... We will overcome and build back better than ever.”
In addition to making the right noises on the campaign trail, Biden has released a policy document – reportedly the first-ever by a presidential candidate – aimed exclusively at Indians. Among other things, it mentions his plans to reform the H-1B visa system, increase the number of visas, and eliminate “the limits on employment-based green cards by country, which have kept so many Indian families in waiting for too long.” India has the longest waiting list for U.S. visas with some waiting as long as two decades.
“Joe Biden has made it crystal clear that he is going to turn the clock back and eliminate the anti-immigration proclamations/executive orders put in place by Trump,” said Sheela Murthy, president of Maryland-based Murthy Law Firm, one of the largest immigration firms in the U.S.
Biden's policies are in stark contrast to Trump's consistent anti-immigrant positions since he's taken office including the attempt to restrict student and H-1B visas and the push for abandonment the family reunification priority produced by the 1965 Immigration Reform Act that did away with the immigration policy that favored Europe opening the doors to immigrants from Asia.
Since adding Harris, whose late mother came from India, the Indian American voters' lean towards the Democratic ticket has become a landslide. A survey from APIA Vote, AAPI Data and Advancing Justice found that 65% of Indian American voters favored the Biden-Harris ticket. Trump was only able to garner 28% of the community's vote.
In addition, a second response to the question if Harris' presence on the Biden ticket made the respondents more enthusiastic, 31% said it made no difference but 49% said that they are more enthusiastic because she is Biden's Vice President.
Besides the fact respondents see her as an Indian American and that Harris would fit well with Biden's moderate positions.
And as both parties are finding out, the Indian American community is not afraid to show their support financially.
At a virtual event for Biden in September, the Indian American community raised $3.3M in one night - the target was $1.5M.
"It was a record for any single-night fundraiser and even Biden acknowledged it was because of her," says Ramesh Kapur, a Massachusetts-based Indian-American industrialist who has organized Democratic fundraisers for Democrats since Michael Dukakis unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1988.
"It was a record for any single-night fundraiser and even Biden acknowledged it was because of her," says Ramesh Kapur, a Massachusetts-based Indian-American industrialist who has organized Democratic fundraisers for Democrats since Michael Dukakis unsuccessful Presidential campaign in 1988.
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