On Indian Independence Day, US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden came out with a unique policy document aimed at wooing Indian-Americans. He promised to reform the H-1B visa system and work towards eliminating the country-quota for Green Cards. He emphasised support to family-based immigration system, legislative immigration reform, and a roadmap for nearly 5,00,000 undocumented immigrants from India. Most importantly, he promised to ensure that Indian-Americans are represented in his administration. “Our government will reflect the diversity of the United States, and Indian-American voices will be included in shaping the policies that impact their communities,” he said.
With the elections a mere few days away, on November 3, who are the Indian-Americans that a Joe Biden administration could involve? Many names come to mind. On the campaign side, Biden has relied strongly on Amit Jani as the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Outreach (AAPI) Director and Muslim Outreach Coordinator. Jani’s nomination had come under a cloud of controversy after some Muslim groups claimed he was close to PM Modi, highlighting a tweet of him congratulating the Indian prime minister for his ‘Howdy Modi’ rally.
Then there are the members of the ‘unity task force’ nominated jointly by Biden and the left wing of the Democratic Party. Progressive Congresswoman from Seattle Pramila Jayapal is a co-chair of the health care task force. Climate change activist Varshini Prakash, 26, from Boston is the youngest member of the climate change task force. Executive director of the Sunrise Movement, a leading organisation focused on climate change among young people, Prakash will serve alongside former secretary of state John Kerry. Legal luminary Chirag Bains has been named co-chair of criminal justice reform task force along with former acting assistant attorney general Vanita Gupta. Eminent economist and former lobbyist Sonal Shah has been named to the economy task force.
However, two names were cited by the New York Times as among Biden’s core advisory group, guiding him on issues ranging from the coronavirus pandemic, economic recovery to foreign policy. Dr Vivek Murthy, former US surgeon general who was appointed by Barack Obama, ranks foremost on the health issues, and Harvard economist Raj Chetty has briefed Biden on economic issues.
Vivek Murthy: At 37, he was the youngest ever to hold the post of surgeon general. He had taken the oath on the Bhagavad Gita. Born to parents originally from South India, he came to the United States when he was three years old and grew up in Miami, Florida. He received a BA from Harvard University, an MBA from Yale School of Management, and an MD from Yale School of Medicine. He co-founded VISIONS Worldwide in 1995, a non-profit organisation focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the United States. In 2011, he was appointed to serve as a member of the advisory group on prevention, health promotion, and integrative and public health. Co-founder and president of Doctors for America, a position he has held since 2009, Murthy is a Hospitalist Attending Physician and Instructor in Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, a position he has held since 2006. He spoke at the Democratic National Convention 2020, hailing Biden’s support for immigrants and his leadership to deal with crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, calling him “the leader to heal the country”.
Raj Chetty: Undoubtedly one of the most influential economists of his generation, the Tamil Nadu-origin academic is one of the youngest professors to be granted tenure in Harvard's history. In addition to his position as the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University, Chetty directs Opportunity Insights, a research lab that aims to identify barriers to economic and social mobility and develop scalable policy solutions to overcome them. He uses government data to show how American families fare across generations, revealing striking (geographic and otherwise) patterns of upward mobility and stagnation, according to The Atlantic; the publication quoted Harvard’s Edward Glaeser, one of the country’s leading urban economists as saying, “The question with Raj is not if he will win a Nobel Prize, but when.” Chetty has now helped launch a resource to monitor the real-time economic impact of COVID-19 on people, businesses and communities across the United States. This tool enables policy makers to make evidence-based decisions that balance vital public health priorities with the economic needs of their communities.
Why are Indian Americans important in these elections?
Between 2000 and 2018, the Indian-American population grew by nearly 150 per cent, making it the second-largest immigrant group in America today. The community's elevated levels of educational attainment and household income render its members valuable campaign contributors and potential mobilisers. They could be the deciding factor in some of the key battleground states in the US elections.
The Indian-American community in the United States continue to be strongly attached to the Democratic Party, "with little indication of a shift towards the Republican Party", according to the latest survey of the community. "As many as 72 per cent of the registered Indian-American voters plan to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, while 22 per cent intend to vote for incumbent Republican Donald Trump, three per cent will support a third-party candidate, and three per cent do not intend to vote at all," according to the survey.
The report, 'How Will Indian Americans Vote? Results from the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey', draws on the Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS), which is a collaboration between the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins-SAIS and the University of Pennsylvania. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.2 per cent.
This is line with earlier polling. Indiaspora-AAPI Data survey released last month showed that 66 per cent of Indian-Americans supported Joe Biden, while 28 per cent supported president Trump. According to the survey, in 2016, 16 per cent Indian-Americans backed Trump. In 2016, however, 77 per cent Indian-Americans supported Hillary Clinton and in 2012, 84 per cent backed Barack Obama.
