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The Foundation of India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) is a policy analysis platform that focuses on creating awareness on subjects and issues related to India and the Indian diaspora through research, surveys, and studies. FIIDS has a strong representation across the United States, but especially in states with a strong Indian-American presence. As a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization, we are reaching out to both the Trump campaign and the Biden campaign to share the needs and concerns of the Indian-American community as we approach the November 3rd general election date.
Background/Statistics on the Indian-American Community:
- According to the 2010 United States Census, the Asian Indian population in the United States is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.
- According to the Pew Research Center:
- Indian Americans are among the most highly educated ethnic groups in the United States. In 2010, more than 70% of Indian Americans aged 25 and older had college degrees of which later studies revealed that more than half of those individuals held a graduate or professional degree.
- Indian Americans are among the wealthiest ethnic groups in America. In 2010, the median income for Indian Americans was 33% higher than that of any other Asian American group and almost 77% higher compared to that of all households in America.
- According to a 2012 study conducted by the Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University:
- Indian Americans have founded more technology companies than those born in the next top seven immigrant-founder-sending countries combined.
- The percentage of companies founded by an Indian American immigrant (33.1%) was more than four times the next highest percentage by an immigrant group, the Chinese-Americans (8.1%).
- Indian Americans have founded almost 7% of all startups nationwide.
Undoubtedly, Indian Americans, though less than 1% of the overall US population, are one of the wealthiest and most educated communities in the United States.
Importance of the Indian American Community in the upcoming US Presidential elections
The 2020 Presidential run will be an extremely close race for which every vote will count. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2012, 65% of Indian Americans identified as Democrats or leaned Democratic compared to 50% of Asian Americans who leaned similarly. It is widely believed that the obvious polarization occurring within the Democratic party at this time and its perceived danger to various civilized countries, including America and India, presents a unique opportunity to the Republican party to convert a higher percentage of Indian Americans to their platform.
| State | 2016 Margin of Victory | Number of Indian Votes |
| Florida | 112,911 | 193,000 |
| Arizona | 91,234 | 66,000 |
| Michigan | 10,700 | 125,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 44,292 | 156,000 |
Further, according to a recent survey by the Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Data, the Indian American community’s strengthening political power, due mainly in part to their growing numbers and increasing political engagement, can make a huge difference in the battleground states of Michigan, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Key Issues for the Indian American Community:
The issues most important to the Indian American community are also issues that should be addressed on a global scale in order to ensure peaceful coexistence among all major powers. Taking a stand on these issues would draw a larger percentage of the Indian American community than normal to the Republican platform, but it would also make sense for the general American community as well. The most important issues are as follows:
1) Further Development of A Strong Indo-US Relationship. The United States and India, two of the largest and greatest democracies in the world, are natural allies that share common geo-political interests, common threats, and common democratic values for the preservation of essential rights and freedoms for their own citizens and for all other citizens of the world. The Indo-American community are and have always been productive, positive contributors to the United States, but they retain strong emotional ties to the land of their ancestors, India. It is very important to the Indo-American community that there is a mutual respect and understanding of each other’s sovereignty as well as each other’s right to govern within their borders for the betterment of their own citizens. Further, it is important to the Indo-American community that each country realize the strength in unity between them for the benefit of each other, but also for the world.
2) Strong Action against States who Sponsor and Promote Terrorism. For the past thirty years, the US State Department has consistently listed Pakistan as the locus of terrorism in the world. The terrorism that has emanated from Pakistan and other parts of the Middle East has plagued India, United States, Israel, and other countries of the world for decades and has resulted in the senseless killing of thousands of people in the name of Islam. Recently, in a statement by Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, PM Khan admitted that Pakistan’s ISI recruits and trains terrorists to engage in cross border terrorism to the detriment of Jammu & Kashmir as well as other parts of India. It is important to the Indo-American community that both the United States and India work jointly to eradicate terrorism around the world, unconditionally support each other’s effort to do so within their borders, and strive to aggressively punish those who engage in violence in the name of religion everywhere.
3) Support the Humanitarian Rights & the Prevention of the Persecution of Religious Minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians in Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan – As the United States did in in 1990 to protect certain persecuted religious minorities in the former Soviet Union and then later again in 2004 to protect religious minorities persecuted in Iran, the Indian Parliament recently passed legislation called the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to protect persecuted minorities from neighboring Islamic countries. When persecution based on religion exists in the world, the solution will necessarily be religious-based. As allies with shared democratic values, the United States and India must work together to protect the downtrodden and helpless in the world. This is an issue of significant importance to the Indo-American community.
4) Hold China Accountable for Its Aggressive Stance in Asia and the Indo-Pacific Region. China has consistently been one of the most egregious violators of humanitarian concerns, environmental rights, and, most of all, the border integrity of its neighboring countries. In September 2019, President Trump declared China to be a major “threat to the world”. For decades, India has dealt with this threat by China through the use of its proxy nation Pakistan. Recently, China has been aggressively instigating border clashes with India in Ladakh. The United States’ support to a friend in such a critical time would not go unnoticed by the Indo-American community.
5) Support High Tech Immigration Visas/Green Card and Remove Arbitrary Country Caps on Green Cards for High-Skilled Technology Immigration. Though Indo-Americans make up only about 1% of the population, they have undoubtedly made huge contributions to the tech industry in the United States. According to a study by New American Economy, almost 44% of the companies in the 2018 Fortune 500 list were either founded by people who immigrated from other countries or by the children of immigrants. In the year 2017, these companies together contributed almost $5.5 trillion to the country’s GDP. Restricting immigration, especially for high-skilled labor, results in a net loss for the United States. Immigration is an important issue for Indian-Americans, and therefore we urge the Trump campaign to remove all arbitrary country caps on immigration.
CONCLUSION
The Indo-American community is one of the most highly educated, wealthiest communities in the United States. They have consistently been strong and productive contributors to the US economy, and, given their concentrated presence in certain key states, they can make a significant impact on the outcome of the 2020 United States Presidential and General Elections. We hope the Trump campaign will strongly consider the issues laid out above.
We wish the campaign and President Trump good luck in the upcoming election.
Sincerely,
Rakhi Israni, Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) Analyst
Ravindra Shukla, Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS) Analyst
