IMPACT raises voting rights, immigration issues with Biden

IMPACT, the leading Indian American civic and political organisation has raised issues related to expanding voting rights and immigration reforms at the White House last week.

IMPACT executive director Neil Makhija along with 13 Asian American civil rights leaders met with the US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris last Thursday (5).

This was the first in-person meeting with national South Asian and AAPI political leaders with both the president and vice president.

Makhija said: “Last week’s meeting was a significant step towards recognising Indian American and AAPI voices as we work towards building a multi-racial democracy that works for us all.

“I discussed the importance of protecting the right to vote, a bedrock issue that affects every other policy impacting our community. I urged the president to reform our immigration laws by abolishing green card caps and quotas, and including 200,000 children of long-term visa holders in efforts to protect all dreamers.”

Around 100,000 employment-based green cards in the US are at the risk of being wasted in less than two months, as the federal agency in charge of their issuance faces historic application backlogs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

This has caused a lot of resentment among Indian IT professionals who are working in the US.

“The President acknowledges that our communities are essential to the fabric of America, but our current laws undermine these values,” Makhija said.