Washington, Oct 10: A young Indian-American running for US House of Representatives and most likely to win the November general elections has promised to work on a comprehensive immigration reform with a focus on legal immigration and strengthening of economy by helping small businesses.
“I want to make sure we have a strong economy in the United States. This area (suburbs of Washington DC in Virginia) in particular is right outside of Washington, DC. We have a lot of federal workers that we want to protect. We want to make sure that we grow businesses and have a plan to address the high costs of living right now and rising costs. I know that’s something happening all over the country. We want to make sure we have a good economy,” Suhas Subramanyam told PTI in an interview.
Currently a Virginia State Senator, Subramanyam, 38, is running on a Democratic ticket from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia. If elected, he would be joining the Samosa Caucus in the Congress that currently comprises five Indian Americans – Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Shri Thanedar.
“I’m running for the US Congress to represent an area right outside of Washington, D.C., the Dulles Airport area. We feel very confident that we can win this election as long as everyone comes out and votes. I’d be the first Indian-American candidate ever elected to Congress from the entire East Coast and the south of the United States. We have five right now in Congress and I would be the sixth and I think we’re hoping that having a seat at the table will mean good things for our community,” he said.
Subramanyam said he would address the issue of immigration. “You know, people are talking about the borders. Here we’ll have secure borders and I’ll invest in that. We also need to look at legal immigration and what we can do for people who have H1B visas and are trying to get a green card but have to wait 10-15 years. We have a very antiquated system with country quotas,” he said.
“I’d like to see us address that because I think there are some countries in particular like India that have so much talent that can be a big part of our economic future and contribute a lot to America. I see them living in my neighbourhood in Virginia and I see the struggles and want to make sure we address that in a meaningful way,” he said.
Calling for a comprehensive immigration reform, Subramanyam said this needs to address both border security along with other issues as well. “If we do all that once, that would be the best way. Short of that, if that is being held up by fighting and controversy, then at least let’s try to address some of the country quotas or at least try to change the status of some of the workers who are here, who are doing the right things.
“Whether it’s five or ten years, if they’re here for a certain period, they should be able to change their status so that they don’t have to leave the country if there’s a situation where they have to renew their status or maybe they get fired. So I want to make sure that we are really looking at this from a comprehensive way, but at least addressing the low-hanging fruit, which everyone tends to agree on,” the Indian-American State legislator said.
Subramanyam’s parents arrived in the US through Dulles Airport in the late 70s.
“Dulles Airport was like their Ellis Island and when they came here they wanted a better life and we never imagined that someone like me named Suhas Subramanyam could be in the US Congress. But we want to make that a reality, and it starts with people coming out and voting in Virginia in November,” he said.
“My mom came from Bengaluru and my dad’s from Chennai. He spent a lot of time in Secunderabad as well, because his father was in the military, so there was a military base there. They decided to come here to build a good life. My mother in particular really liked the idea of becoming a physician in America,” he said.
“She and my father met in medical school in Bengaluru and then came out here in the late 70s. They just taught me a couple of values. One, service is very important, giving back, making a good life. Education is also important. One of the things they also wanted me to do was make sure I stayed in touch with my Indian roots as well. So I would go back to India in the summers all the time. I still have family there. It’s very important to me to continue that heritage and not run just because I’m an Indian-American, but I have a lot of ideas I want to do, but run being proud of my background, my heritage,” he said.
Responding to a question, Subramanyam advocated for a strong India-US relationship.
“The US-India relationship is so important because India is one of the most important democracies on the Earth. And so we want to make sure we have a good relationship with other democracies in the global sphere,” he said.
“The US and India have a naturally strong relationship. A lot of Indian-Americans live here. We have a large Indian diaspora. A lot of Indian students come here to study. And a lot of US companies have offices in India. We have a strong economic partnership. I think now we can start to look at what a defence partnership could mean and how we can work together on technology transfer, on just having common strategic defence goals. I think that will be a very important relationship for both countries in the long term. And it’s I think it’s something that even setting aside the fact that I’m an American is something that I think will be really good for our country moving forward,” he said. (PTI)
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