More than 15 percent students from India contribute $ 5 billion to the US economy
Kansas hate crime that left a 32-year-old Indian male dead and two others, an Indian American and an American, injured has had a rippling effect on the psyche of prospective Indian students.
Once considered as a safe and preferred destination for higher education, US is losing charm of its much touted American Dream.
“I would be scared to study in the US,” said Anupam Singh, a master’s student from Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, NDTV reported. “Did you read the newspapers yesterday? Two Indian were shot.”
Singh once aspired to pursue PhD from the United States of America.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead by a US Navy veteran, Adam W. Purinton, in an unprovoked attack. The intoxicated American shooter fired several rounds at Kuchibhotla’s friend Alok Madasani, too. When another bar patron Ian Grillot tried to intervene, Puriton pumped several bullets in him as well. Both Madasani and Grillot survived and are recuperating. Later that night, police arrested Purinton while he was trying to find a hideout. Authorities had charged him with one murder and two attempted murders.
The 51-year-old shooter had shouted, “Get out of my country!” reports confirmed. The White House on Friday denied any connection between President Trump’s change in policies and Kansas bar racial killing. “To suggest that there’s any correlation I think is a bit absurd. So I’m not going to go any further than that,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer told news media on Friday. Interestingly, President Trump has skipped his dinner with the White House correspondents, for reasons unclear. Trump tweeted: “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
It is pertinent to mention that more than 15 percent of international students in the US hail from India. That makes India the second largest contributor to the US schools, both public and private. In the year 2016, India sent more than 165,918 students to the US campuses. And, these students contributed $5.01 billion to the US economy, according to the US Department of Commerce.
Not only this, the skilled workers from India who go on H-1B visas are also contributing heavily to the US economy. “Out of every 100, H-1B visas have resulted in support of 183 jobs in the US,” India’s representative in the US, Ambassador Navtej Sarna said in a media interview, earlier this month. Sarna also mentioned that Indian technology companies have spent $2 billion in four years and paid approximately $20 billion in taxes.
Kansas killing, however, might divert this trend.