Washington:
Thousands of Indians in the United States, who migrated as minors under the H-4 visa, now face an uncertain future as they approach the age of 21. Under current immigration laws in the US, they will no longer qualify as dependents of their H1-B visa-holder parents.
To put it simply, if an H-1B Visa holder fails to get a Green Card before their child turns 21, the latter faces deportation.
Many are now exploring other options, including immigrating to countries like Canada or the UK, which have more flexible policies. The massive backlog in the US employment-based green card system disproportionately affects Indian immigrants.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced the registration period for H-1B visas for fiscal year 2026. The process opens on March 7 and runs through March 24.
Dip Patel, the Founder and President of Improve The Dream, a grassroots organisation that supports and advocates for young immigrants who have grown up in the United States as children of long term visa holders, but face aging out of the immigration system, speaks to NDTV regarding the difficulties faced by such individuals and issues related to it. Here are some excerpts.
Reports suggest some dependents of people with H-1B visas are at risk of ‘self-deportation’. What is ‘self deportation’ and is there a need to be wary?
Aging out is when a child dependent on a visa holder turns 21 and ages out of that status. Due to the green card backlogs, there are many Indians who are on H-1B for a long time, sometimes decades. Their young children who were brought lawfully to the United States, have grown up on a H-1B dependent visa. Even though they have a green card petition pending, if that child turns 21 before the parent receives the green card, that child will age out and face self deportation. That means, to avoid making it documented that the individual has to leave the country or find another way to stay.
The fact that “aging out” has been around for a while now, what needs to be done to ensure people who have spent almost their whole lives in the US are not deported?
Most individuals do switch over to an international student visa temporarily, but after that if they are unable to figure out a way to stay, they have to leave. Unfortunately there are about 10,000 individuals who face deportation, even though they grew up in the United States maintaining legal status.
The basis of this “aging out” issue seems to be the inability of people to get Green Cards? Has the U.S. government done enough to tackle this problem? Is there something else also at play here?
There has been no recent change on self deportation and this has been in the system forever. It has been getting worse since the last 10-15 years because of the Green Card backlog, but it’s not like this administration has made it worse. There has been no such mechanism that people could extend it for 2 years under DACA, that only applies to undocumented individuals.
What is America’s Children Act and how will it sort this problem?
Due to our efforts in the last few years, we have been able to get attention to this and get bipartisan legislation in Congress introduced called America’s Children Act, supported by both Republicans and Democrats. It is one of the most bipartisan immigration bills in Congress.
This will enable children, who grew up in the United States and maintained lawful status and want to contribute back to the country, to stay and have a clear pathway to citizenship.
The America’s Children Act will make sure that that individual doesn’t have to leave the country and their green card application, which had been pending, does not get kicked out. They get to keep their place in line.
Additionally it creates a mechanism that if you were here as a child, grew up in the United States, attended a college, graduated university and been here for 10 years, then you can apply for a Green Card, and 5 years later, apply for citizenship.
How important is immigration reform for the United States?
The economic case for immigration reform is very strong. 10,000 people who only know America and are embedded in American culture are having to leave the country every year. 90% of whom are either in STEM or healthcare fields, how does that help the United States?
Do Indians in the U.S. need to be worried about Trump’s immigration crackdown? He has said that he will welcome tech graduates and Ivy League graduates with open arms, but what about the others?
When the word – immigration crackdown is used, it is about illegal immigration, not legal immigration.
Reports suggest a 2-year extension policy is at risk of being scrapped by the Trump administration. Can you shed some light on it?
DACA was a program for undocumented children that were brought here, they had an option to get a 2 year work permit and protection and be able to renew it every 2 years. However, there is a Texas court case that is against DACA, and it is under threat.