Roshan, who spent 16 years in the US and worked for an American semiconductor company, was forced to leave the country he called home. Praneetha, a Cloud Engineer in Texas, has no clear path to permanent residency and must continually renew her visa to stay in the US.
Roshan came to the US at age 10 on an H4 visa. He graduated from Boston College in 2021 with a degree in Economics. However, upon turning 21 in 2019, he had to leave the country due to the lack of a clear path for staying. Praneetha, who came to the US at age 8, faces the threat of deportation after living in the country for over 15 years.
Children of legal immigrants, many of whom are Indian-Americans, risk deportation when they turn 21 and age out of their dependent visa status. There are approximately 250,000 such children in the US.
The White House has blamed Republicans for the legislative impasse preventing a solution for these “Documented Dreamers.” According to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Republicans voted down bipartisan agreements aimed at helping these individuals twice.
Last month, Senator Alex Padilla and Representative Deborah Ross, along with a bipartisan group of 43 lawmakers, urged the Biden Administration to take urgent action to protect the 250,000 Documented Dreamers. These children have grown up and studied in the US but face self-deportation due to the long green-card backlog, which leaves families with approved immigrant petitions waiting decades for permanent resident status.
