Washington, June 25

A group of Indian youngsters from across America, facing imminent prospects of deportation, has met senior Biden administration officials at the White House and influential lawmakers, appealing them to “let us stay in the US”.

There are 2,00,000 such young Americans, who have spent their entire childhood and teenage in the US. They are facing the prospects of imminent deportation to the country of their origin as they have either attained the age of 21 or about to reach that age, after which they can no longer be dependent on their parents’ visas. A significantly large number of these parents are in a decades’ long wait for a Green Card.

Senators, Congress members moved

• The young Indians, led by Dip Patel, a clinical pharmacist in Illinois, surprised many of the Congressmen and Senators, who greeted them at the Capitol as they were probably the first batch of lobbyists at the US Congress, after the recent lifting of social-distancing restrictions
• Members of the Congress and Senators, more than a dozen of whom they met personally, were moved by their courage and lobbying efforts
• The young advocates were given assurance and asked to have patience as things move slowly in Washington DC and legislative changes take time

A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently in the US.

The young Indians, led by Dip Patel, a clinical pharmacist in Illinois, surprised many of the Congressmen and senators, who greeted them at the Capitol last week, as they were probably the first batch of lobbyists at the US Congress, after the recent lifting of social distancing restrictions by the Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC).

Patel, 25, is founder of Improve The Dream, a youth-led organisation bringing awareness for children who face ageing out and self-deportation, was joined by Pareen Mhatre, 21, a senior at the University of Iowa majoring in Biomedical Engineering and minoring in Business Administration; Naga Raghav Sreeram, 21, a senior at the University of California, Davis majoring in Computer Science. “Great to hear from some young advocates with @ImproveTheDream outside of the Capitol! It’s past time for the Senate to pass the Dream & Promise Act,” tweeted Senator Michael Bennet. — PTI