THE new sunday express Voices Anand Neelakantan Ravi Shankar Ganesh Saili Shiv Visvanathan Balaji Vittal Mata Amritanandamayi MAGAZINE Buffet People Wellness Books Food Art & Culture Entertainment march 30 2025 SUNDAY PAGES 12 The Great Visa Imbroglio A batch of illegal immigrants from India boarding a US military plane in shackles. The first round of deportation had taken place on February 5 when 104 Indians landed in Amritsar. What Donald Trump’s new immigration rules mean for travellers to the United States. The residency status of many foreigners living in the US with various visa categories like business, employment and permanent residency is also in peril T By Iram Ara Ibrahim with Suruchi Kapur-Gomes he cat was out of the bag. Before agents from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) banged on the apartment door of Ranjani Srinivasan in early March, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist, had been arrested from the Columbia University campus for supporting terrorist group Hamas. Ranjani’s visa had been revoked on March 5, 2025 by the Department of State for “advocating for violence and terrorism”. Having heard forceful thumping on the door, she saw through the keyhole, three federal immigration agents waiting outside. She didn’t let them in. When the agents turned up again for the second day in a row, she did not wish to endure the humiliation of arrest, confinement and deportation to India in chains. She told the New York Times she hadn’t participated in the protests. She left her cat behind and flew to Canada using the new CBP Home App. Ranjani is one of the first aliens who accessed the new self-deportation feature on the App, which does not require the user to go through the formal deportation process. With ‘Operation Aurora’ Donald Trump is making good on his promise to deport anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terror activists who support Palestinian anti-Israel terror groups, illegal immigrants and gang members. However, Indian American business analyst, Manik Aggarwal says much of Trump’s diktats are, “to divert attention, as America needs Indian skilled, legal workers who follow due process and protocols.” Manik may be right but it is no longer safe for all foreigners to live in the US. The fear that their visas, green card and even citizenship could be revoked on the flimsiest of excuses has made many of them nervous. IT CEO, Anand K, who has lived and worked in America, for two decades says, “For the President, America is a business, and he, Elon Musk and others are now getting together to get it back on track. In this regard, tariffs imposed on India, and other countries, scrutiny of who gets to be in America, and giving naturalised Americans their rights is their aim. He is simply addressing his constituency and pleasing hardliners.” , WHO ARE BEING DEPORTED? More than 16.7 million people are estimated to have at least one family member who is an illegal immigrant. The deportation drive risks the safety of 5.9 million US child citizens if their undocumented family members are removed. This includes people who have been living in the States unlawfully for 20 or 30 years and have spouses or children who are US citizens. Immigrants who entered the country on a humanitarian parole programme which Biden had approved are on the chopping block. On the exit list could also be ‘DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) kids; individuals who arrived in America as children. Called “DREAM- ers,” they must be physically present in the US on, or before June 15, 2012, or had entered the country as children at least five years earlier to be eligible for staying on. YIELDING RESULTS The first law President Trump signed on his second term with bipartisan approval was the Laken Riley Act. It expands Homeland Security’s power to arrest any alien, or people lacking the necessary documentation to stay in the US. People accused, arrested, convicted or admitted to having committed burglary theft, larceny or , shoplifting will go. The Trump administration revoked legal protections for approximately 5,30,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, leading to mass deportations starting April 24, 2025. But ICE data says Barack Obama deported more immigrants on an annual average (3,85,000) than Trump (2,99,000). The highest one-year total of deportation happened under Obama (4,32,228 in 2013) which earned him the nickname ‘Deporter-in-Chief ’. On his first day in office, Trump ordered 10,000 troops to the US-Mexico border to stop border crossings—single-day border arrests hit a 15-year low on February 22, with just 200 trying to cut across the 2,000-plus mile long border with Mexico as compared 2,869 average daily crossings last year. Trump’s final target is to expel 1 million aliens. “A visa alone does not guarantee protection from deportation. The situation is dire for foreign students and workers. Very little security can be guaranteed to individuals holding visas if they cannot trust that their fundamental rights of free speech, right to protest and right to assembly are safe. Removing visa protections puts students and workers in a very unstable position,” observes Professor Supriya Baily , Professor, College of Education and Human Development, co-director, Centre for International Education, George Mason University . uncertain future WHOSE RESIDENCY STATUS IS IN DANGER? While stumping for his second presidency , Trump had promised to end “birthright citizenship”. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution establishes the principle of birthright citizenship: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” Many of Trump’s anti-immigration orders have been blocked by courts; the escalating confrontation between the executive and judiciary will have far reaching consequences for American economy and society However, . Trump did deport 37,660 aliens during his first month in office, a number less than the monthly average of 57,000 expulsions in Biden’s last year in office. Having a valid green card does not guarantee protection from deportation: the only safeguard is to get citizenship or spending three years in the US after marrying an American citizen. The elderly with valid green cards may also face expulsion. Often, Customs and Border Protection officers at airports are forcing older green card holders to sign Form I-407 to voluntarily surrender their permanent residency in the US where they have been living with their adult children. Those who do not sign are often threatened with detention or deportation. Officials are treating extended stays outside the US as ‘reduced intention’ to live in the US permanently “President Trump is great for the . US, even as he troubles the rest of the world to toe his line, and work within the tone and tenor of America’s needs and wants. What is good for the US might not be as good for India, Europe or another country India in particular is worried . about issues related to tariffs, visas, green cards. As Trump settles down in his presidency some , of these will convert into action, and push the rest of the world to adjust to the way the US wants to do business,” says Harish Bijoor, business and brand strategy expert. GREEN CARDS ARE NO LONGER A GUARANTEE OF SAFETY There are about 12.8 million green card holders living in the United States, according to the latest Office of Homeland Security numbers. Before an immigrant gets citizenship in the US, the Green Card assures a stay of up to 10 years. Mahmoud Khalil, arrested for the terror activity of leading pro-Hamas student protest movements demanding a ceasefire in Gaza holds a green card and is married to a Palestinian-origin Turn to page 2 More than 16.7 million people are estimated to have at least one family member who is an illegal immigrant. The deportation drive risks the safety of 5.9 million US child citizens Mahmoud Khalil, arrested for the terror activity of leading pro-Hamas student protest movements demanding a ceasefire in Gaza holds a green card and is married to a US citizen. At the time of the arrest, Khalil was inside his university-owned apartment when several Immigration Customs Enforcement agents took him into custody. Badar Khan Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University. The US government has accused him of ties to Hamas, spreading Hamas propaganda and hate speech on college campus. His lawyer claims the deportation is tied to his Palestinian spouse, with Gaza and Palestine being central to Suri's background. Rajani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student at Columbia University, has self-deported using the CBP Home app on March 11 after the US revoked her visa. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that Srinivasan became involved in activities that were deemed to support Hamas.