Daniel Di Martino, a researcher of the Manhattan Institute, pushed back the anti-Indian rhetoric of social media triggered by Diwali celebrations and the recent California crash caused by an Indian driver, and claimed that Indians are the best major counrty of origin group of immigrants. “The average Indian immigrant and his or her descendants will save the federal government $1.7 million over 30 years,” the researcher said.The research comes as the Donald Trump administration is trying to preserve jobs for Americans and exploring ways to prevent them from being filled by H-1B visa holders brought from countries like India and China for high-skill jobs, only to be assigned entry-level positions at a lower pay. The administration has imposed a $100,000 fee for sponsors who will bring H-1Bs, hoping that this exorbitant amount would arrest the inflow of foreigners in the US job market.
Indian immigrants most economically beneficial
The researcher claimed that Indian immigrants are the most economically beneficial immigrant group in the U.S., with an average Indian immigrant reducing the national debt by over $1.6 million over 30 years and increasing GDP more than immigrants from any other country. Behind Indian immigrants are the Chinese, who reduce the debt by over $800,000 over 30 years. Next, Filipinos reduce the debt by over $600,000. Colombians and Venezuelans reduce the debt by $500,000 and $400,000, respectively.The research paper also suggested granting more green cards to Indians, limiting visa issuances to people from other countries for at least 10 years so that the backlog of Indian immigrants clears up first. It said Indian immigrants now wait for decades to get a green card while in other countries, the waiting period is a maximum of two years. The research paper said ending per-country caps would expand the national debt by over $1.1 trillion over 30 years and result in an economy 0.7% smaller with a debt-to-GDP ratio 2.4% larger.
