Prior to action, only 13,500 were eligible for deportation relief.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Undocumented immigrants from India are among the largest beneficiaries of the sweeping executive action announced by President Barack Obama on November 20, an analysis by a Washington think tank reveals.
According to the Pew Research Center, as many as 38 percent — or 171,000 — of the 450,000 unauthorized immigrants from India that are currently living in the United States are eligible to apply for deportation relief.
Pew’s data indicate that before the executive action, only 3 percent of the overall undocumented Indian immigrant population was eligible for relief. Under the president’s plan, the percentage of eligible Indians has skyrocketed to 41 percent.
With the stroke of a pen, eligibility immediately grew from 13,500 Indian individuals to 184,500.
That is the highest in percentage among all the major undocumented immigrant groups, including the Mexicans. Overall, in sheer numbers, unauthorized immigrants born in Mexico will benefit the most.
“More than half of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico” (55 percent) are now eligible for deportation relief, up from 11 percent prior to the executive action, the Pew research shows.
Pew’s figure of 450,000 illegal immigrants from India currently estimated to be in the US, makes India the source of the fourth-largest unauthorized immigrant population after Mexico (5.9 million), El Salvador (675,000) and Guatemala (525,000).
The total number of Indian-origin population in the US is estimated to be 3.18 million, which would make every eighth person of Indian origin living in the U.S. an illegal immigrant. (GIN)