‘Let people links flourish, but fight illegal migration’
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have noted the importance of advancing people to people ties between India and the US
WashingtonPresident Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have noted the importance of advancing people to people ties between India and the US even as the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment against illegal immigration, days after the US sent a military plane with 104 illegal migrants back with more such flights expected to land in India over the next two days.
As the two leaders met at the White House on Thursday, this was an issue that had assumed particular significance amid growing political and racist backlash over Trump’s hard stance in his first month in office.
Modi on Thursday called for a battle against the entire “ecosystem” and “racket” that allowed illegal migration to flourish, but the leaders focused on legal migrants -- both students and professionals -- from India who added value to the US.
Despite a backlash from his own nativist base against H-1B visa holders back in December, Trump and his key supporter Elon Musk had backed legal migration for professionals.
Students welcomeThe joint statement said that the two leaders noted that more than the 300,000 strong Indian student community contributes over $8 billion annually to the US economy and helps create a number of direct and indirect jobs. They recognised that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees, mutually benefitted both countries.
In what can also be seen as a nod to India’s own ambitions to emerge as a higher education hub and engage in international education partnerships, the statement recognised the importance of “international academic collaborations in fostering innovation, improving learning outcomes and development of a future-ready workforce”.
Both leaders resolved to strengthen collaborations between the higher education institutions through efforts “such as joint/dual degree and twinning programs, establishing joint Centres of Excellence, and setting up of offshore campuses of premier educational institutions of the U.S. in India”. The decision to set up such campuses of course rests with the universities and their management, not the State, in the US system.
Trump’s previous national security advisor, Robert O’Brien, in an interview with HT last month, recalled that Trump and Modi had spoken about getting more Indian students to the US in his first term as well.
The professional focusShifting focus to professionals who have legally migrated, Modi and Trump noted that the world was a “global workplace”, a term that Indian diplomacy has used frequently in recent years, and that this called for “putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks”.
“In this regard, the leaders committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals, and facilitating short-term tourist and business travel, while also aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking by taking strong action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks to promote mutual security for both countries,” the statement said.
The reference to streamlining pathways for professionals is a win for the tech and economic constituencies in Trump’s coalition. The commitment to address visa issues for Indians interested in travelling to the US is a recognition that prolonged delays are straining ties and businesses and exchanges.
Illegal immigration challengeThe categorical commitment to go act against networks promoting illegal immigration stems from both India’s own beliefs and recognition of US political context where the immigration issue is dominant.
There has been a spike in the flow of illegal Indian immigrants into the US since 2020. While a Pew survey suggests that there are over 725,000 illegal Indian immigrants in the US, the Department of Homeland Security’s last available data from 2022 shows there are about 220,00 illegal Indian immigrants. A recent study by two political scientists at Johns Hopkins University, Devesh Kapur and Abby Budiman, has pointed to both this reduced stock of illegal Indian immigrants (their numbers, according to DHS, dropped from 560,000 in 2015 to 220,000 in 2022), but an increase in the flow with the number of border apprehensions going up from 1000 in 2020 to 43,000 in 2023 and number of asylum applications going up from 5000 in 2015 to 51,000 in 2023.
But irrespective of the actual numbers, the fact there is a spike in the flow in recent years has made it a significant political issue in the US, with the Trump administration making deportation a priority. India has accepted that it will take back those who had illegally entered the US once they are verified as Indians, a position the PM reaffirmed at the press conference on Thursday, but the manner in which the removals happened — with people handcuffed, chained and sent in a military plane - sparked an outcry in India.
The focus of talks however appeared to be targeting the broader “ecosystem” that, Modi said, misled young people of ordinary families, sold them dreams, and then brought them illegally to other countries.
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