The Forgotten Immigrants

They are nameless, faceless – lost in a fast-changing America

There was a time when big yellow birds used to fly through the canyons of Manhattan, carrying strangers and locals as well as vibrant tourist traffic.  They were the golden pulse of a city which bragged that it never slept. We are talking of New York’s iconic yellow taxis which provided livelihoods to so many immigrant families from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, and many other countries.

The taxi drivers spoke a babble of tongues including Hindi, Bengali and Punjabi – and were confident their driving skills would put them on the road to a good living in America. The hours were long, the work often dangerous but the aspiration was to own a taxi Medallion and be the master of one’s destiny, a dream which could finally include a house of one’s own and a college education for the children.

Now that dream has been destroyed; the yellow fleets have been decimated by the invading armies of Ubers and Lyfts and were given a final deathblow by the quarantine and stay-at-home orders of a year-long pandemic which still rages in many parts of the country.  There were 10,500 yellow cabs in Manhattan before the pandemic – at the height of the lockdown the number dwindled to 982.  It has finally crept back to 3500. Wrote the New York Times: “Drivers carrying huge loans — $500,000, on average — found themselves underwater. Nearly a dozen drivers have taken their lives in the past few years, suicides of both despair and protest.”

Today you see few yellow cabs on the streets of New York and to own a Medallion now is to be tied to a money-gobbling burden. The men in the driver’s seat are finding that they have come to a dead end.

This story is true of so many forgotten immigrants who labor in low-paying, thankless jobs: essential workers, restaurant staff, nannies and nail salon workers. The pandemic tightened the screws further as so many found their lifeline receding with loss of jobs, home schooling of children and the inability to pay rent or the grocery bills. So many found themselves on the lines for soup kitchens and free rations the first time in their lives, and many others succumbed to COVID-19.

We hear of Indian-American success stories but there are other stories to be told too.

When migrants leave their homeland they come with many dreams for a better life but these ambitious blueprints don’t always pan out. America has been heralded as the richest country on earth with hi-tech jobs and people earning six figure salaries in major corporations.

The Indian Diaspora in the United States is comprised of approximately 4.8 million who were either born in India or reported Indian ancestry or race, according to tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau 2018 ACS. According to migration policy.org, Indians overall have much higher incomes than the total foreign- and native-born populations. In 2019, households headed by an Indian immigrant had a median income of $132,000, compared to $64,000 and $66,000 for all immigrant and U.S.-born households, respectively.

Yet at least five percent of them along with a percentage of other South Asians – Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali and Sri Lankan – comprise the lower rungs of a floating population of essential workers, some of them illegal immigrants. In 2019, Indian immigrants were less likely to be in poverty (5 percent) than immigrants overall (14 percent) or the U.S. born (12 percent).

Indeed, the pandemic has shoved so many more into the distress lines of the food-insecure, the jobless, and the homeless that one feels the numbers of strugglers may now be more extensive.

Meet Swarna, who faces an abusive husband at home and sexual harassment at work. She managed to get a place of her own but her hours of work were reduced due to the pandemic and then the job disappeared altogether. She is not eligible for unemployment or a stimulus check due to her immigration status and struggles daily with rent, transport and food insecurity. Her financial problems may propel her back to her abuser.

Then there is Viren was the sole bread-earner for his family of four but when he fell sick he was unable to get any disability benefits from his job. His wife, in spite of many attempts, could not find a job since she did not have any previous work experience and was not proficient in English. The landlord threatened to evict them since they were behind on their rent payment and gave them an ultimatum: settle the balance and vacate the premises.

Swarna and Viren are real people (their names have been changed to protect their identities) but they are just two of the many South Asians who fall foul of the ‘Model Minority’ myth. There are thousands and thousands more like them, living hand to mouth, and day to day.

Although the vast majority of Indian immigrants in the United States are legally present, approximately 296,000 were unauthorized in the 2012-16 period, according to Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates, comprising approximately 3 percent of the 11.3 million unauthorized population.

MPI also estimated that approximately 20,000 Indian unauthorized immigrants were immediately eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program when it was introduced in 2012. However, as of March 2020, only 2,220 Indian-born individuals were among the 643,600 active participants, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.

Too afraid to come into the sunlight these illegal immigrants live a shadowy life in which they just do not exist on paper. Many, living in overcrowded basements, were too afraid to be counted in the US census, for fear of being deported. And now on top of all their problems from COVID-19 to lack of vaccinations, from food insecurity to lack of jobs, comes the added fear of hate crimes where you can be blown away simply for looking different.

As Sonal Shah, president of the Asian American Foundation noted, the communities comprise of over 40 ethnicities. There are cleavages within the Indian community itself, which is not a monolithic community.  She says, “That’s why the Asian American Foundation is focused on understanding that data is critical to how we help our communities; we fall within this model minority myth, Asian Americans have higher education but we need to understand that even within the community, there is a wide disparity of challenges. Between the highest 10% and the lowest 10% there’s a huge disparity, and in fact amongst all other ethnic communities we have the largest disparities.”

Several thought leaders spoke at a virtual event ‘Social Realities of Indian Americans” which shows the nuances of the community in America. It was co-hosted by Carnegie and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF)—concerning a new study on the Indian American community, which draws on the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS).

While discussing many aspects of the community, Milan Vaishnav noted that while the overall professional educational financial success of the Indian American community is undisputed, there is a lot of variation and an incredible amount of inequality. The socio-economic characterestic, he says, “has not inoculated them in any way from the forces of discrimination, polarization and frankly contestation over these very, very basic questions of identity.”

Sumitra Badrinathan, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, while highlighting the successes of Indian-Americans as well as the impact of ‘having someone who looks like us in the White House’, also notes: “Of late, we’ve seen a pretty strong troubling surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans in these past few months. Indians haven’t been the specific targets but the Indian American community is no stranger to violence in America.”

The IAAS Survey data shows that one in two Indian Americans reports being subject to some form of discrimination in the past year. The data suggest that discrimination based on skin color is the most common form of bias, while there’s also religious and gender-based bias. Muslims report the greatest degree of religious discrimination by far (39 percent), followed by Hindus (18 percent), Christians (15 percent), and believers of other faiths (9 percent). Sixteen percent of Indian Americans report being discriminated against by virtue of their Indian heritage. And, finally, 5 percent of all respondents report having encountered discrimination due to their caste identity.

Indeed, while the community is very successful, it has many types of shading and systemic racism and inequality are very much a part of many lives. The new study takes on some of these questions: How do Indian Americans relate to the broader assimilation and integration? And, as the United States witnesses a resurgence of violence and hate speech targeting Asian Americans, how does it affect Americans of Indian origin?

Ivy League schools have mentors to guide their students – so why not mentors for those struggling in the School of Hard Knocks? This is where some remarkable individuals and organizations have come forward – grassroots groups which help lift up people by their bootstraps. Most states with a sizable South Asian community have such grassroots organizations to help those who are struggling.

Raksha, a Georgia-based nonprofit in Atlanta has seen the lives of low-paid workers and women further stretched to breaking point. Aparna Bhattacharyya, Director of Raksha, says she cannot even put a figure to the number of South Asians who have suffered through the pandemic in Atlanta:  “I don’t know we would know the numbers given how many folks suffer in silence and folks are isolated and the stigma in asking for help.”

Asked about how those already suffering from domestic abuse have been further affected by the pandemic and the economic downturn, she says: “It is complicated with domestic violence given that many people are at home with their abusers and can’t reach out.  The stress around finances can create more ways for abusers to isolate and limit resources for survivors.”

Tough times have been made tougher by the pandemic for many on the lower rungs of the community who may be in paid guest situations there are landlords, often from the same community as the tenants, who refuse to fill out W9 forms for rental assistants and often won’t even allow survivors to cook their ethnic food items due to smell and harass them.

Bhattacharyya says Raksha had already been providing rental, food, and emergency assistance but in the past year the needs amplified tremendously. “We used to fill out food pantry 1 to 2 times a year.  We now have to refill it one to two times a month.   The rental requests went from maybe 1,000 to 3,000 a month from 10,000 to 20,000 in some months.”

Raksha, like advocacy groups in other states, is the glue which keeps so many survivors functioning. Are things getting better for South Asian women survivors? She says, “It is hard to say.  Our community is growing so the incidents are rising but I feel that we are getting more community awareness.  The pandemic really got some folks to donate that might not have normally supported our work.  There is something about addressing food insecurity that really speaks to our community.   I hope they will see the other systemic needs around housing, transportation and mental wellness at the same level.”

As America lurches back to normal – or at least, the new normal – and cities are opening up at different levels, what does the future look like? South Asians are just part of the brigade of brown and black workers whose already precarious lives have been further decimated with their status often going from the middle-class strugglers to that of the homeless and the hungry

With the nightmare of the past four years over, there is fresh hope with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House, and a team that is full of like-minded people. Biden’s tweet was very different from those from his predecessor: “Let me be clear: No one should have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of themselves or their loved ones. The American Families Plan will finally provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for every American.”

As NPR reported about the Biden initiative, “At the center of that agenda is his newly unveiled American Families Plan, a $1.8 trillion proposal designed to lower the cost of child care, provide billions for paid family leave and expand access to education. Biden is also seeking to pass a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that he calls a “once-in-a-generation” investment in the United States.”

The will is certainly there and one hopes that all these become a reality: Rep Pramila Jayapal has said, “We can’t allow workers to be called essential but treated as expendable. End the filibuster, pass the PRO Act, and put power back into the hands of working people. EVERY worker deserves the right to organize for good wages, fair benefits and an equal voice on the job.”

Individual cities are trying to address the issues of years of inequity and neglect of their minority populations – Black, Hispanic and Asian American. Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched the ‘NYC Vaccine Referral Bonus’ program to encourage more New Yorkers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The City is working with community-based organizations to turn out their neighbors, awarding $100 for each referral that leads an individual receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a City-run site.

The outreach efforts are based on community and faith-based organizations and temples and gurudwaras could assist in getting the South Asian community involved. The ‘NYC Vaccine Referral Bonus’ program relies on organizations that have already exhibited leadership during the City’s vaccination efforts, as well as the recruitment of other organizations and leaders through online signup and coaching.

It is not as if the forgotten people have sprung up overnight – but America seems to have more awareness of them now after many thousands of minority population have died in the pandemic or  suffered evictions and hunger in large numbers. There is heightened awareness now, especially after George Floyd’s murder, that there is deep inequity in policing, in medical care, in housing, education and jobs – in American life itself.

Indian-Americans are part of the many minorities who have been forgotten in America’s success story and after the pandemic horror stories, the black lives matter and Asian hate incidents, there seems to be more of an awareness of the discrepancies which exist in America – the two almost separate Americas running on parallel tracks – the haves and the have-nots. As these community organizations, many of them headed by young people of color organize and fight for the rights of the disabled, the poor and the marginalized, we can hope to see life change for the better and see everyone get a shot at a level playing field.

Vice President Kamala Harris has also shown the future to the strugglers and under-achievers: “A 4-year college degree isn’t the only path to success. For some it’s a technical college or a training program, and for some it’s an apprenticeship. That’s why the American Jobs Plan invests in workforce development, including creating 1-2 million new registered apprenticeships.”

While things are hopefully falling into place as America comes back for its people and the world, it is encouraging to see South-Asian Americans lead the charge in changing circumstances for their own communities and help to write their own positive futures. There are a number of the new generation Indian Americans involved in politics, law and justice – one of the leading lights is long-time activist and civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta who was confirmed as the United States Associate Attorney General.

After the heat of the Black Lives Matter protests and the Asian shootouts, public opinion seems to be on the side of fairness and compassion. It helps to have the power people on the right side of history. Slowly the tide seems to be turning. Muslims, vilified and ostracized, are finally getting their place in American society. The Senate voted to confirm Zahid Quraishi as a US District Judge for the District of New Jersey, making him the first Muslim American federal judge in US history.

The bright spot and saving grace in recent events is the passionate involvement of advocates from the community are taking up the cause of those who have no voice and no clout. People who could have taken up six-figure jobs but have chosen instead to pay it forward and take up public service.

Flushing and Jackson Heights in Queens are the original immigrant landing places and it is here that a major need exists. S. Mitra Kalita is the very successful media entrepreneur who has taken on a new avenging avatar during the pandemic, specifically to help the black and brown communities during a difficult time. She has started URL Media, a new media company which publishes several newsletters including Epicenter NYC  and has expanded to podcast, livestreams and events to reach an under-served audience.  The mission is to get everyone to the table, especially the elderly and the brown populations with little tech knowledge or clout.

Why this change from the gleaming executive suite to grassroots community journalism and advocacy? “I live in Jackson Heights, Queens, which is one of a handful of desi hubs in the U.S.,” explains Kalita who has been in leadership positions at Washington Post and CNN.  “The communities here have passed on hands from Indian and Pakistani to Bangladeshi, Nepali and Tibetan. We started Epicenter because our neighborhood was very hard hit by the pandemic and it felt like we were left to fend for ourselves – and each other. I felt like someone like me with a background in journalism might be able to both amplify needs and find ways to serve them.”

Kalita believes it’s crucial for South Asians to form connections with other minorities as they fight for economic and social justice. “Our entire existence in the U.S. is largely thanks to the work of Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. I also think there are many overlapping issues facing us both globally and locally.”

In order to offer vaccination assistance and other support, it is equally important to be connected to the larger South Asian population – Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Nepali. Mitra recalls, “One of the greatest successes we had resulted from  Epicenter being a part of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown community news outlets. When our partner, TBN24,  a Bangla livestream, mentioned us, our intake from Bangladeshi taxi drivers and restaurant workers was instant. I needed a global network of millions (Dhaka to Detroit) to find my own neighbors!”

There are now so many grassroots organizations to take on the battles for the forgotten ordinary people, be they from any part of South Asia. Adhikaar and Chhaya are just two of the organizations looking after this community.

According to Annetta Seecharran of Chhaya Community Development, the pandemic stimulus paychecks have provided temporary respite and a way to meet urgent needs.  The organization, which is part of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, is committed to housing justice and economic well-being of South Asians and Indo-Caribbean communities in New York City.

Narbada Chhetri is the Director of Organizing and Programs at Adhikaar, an organization which supports the Nepali community in  New York and New Jersey. It has seen the loss of many jobs and many were let go without any pay.  This workers organization has banded together with other groups and fought for the rights of domestic workers, nail salon workers and food delivery workers.

Adhikaar realizes the power of legislation and has rallied with others for the passage of  The NJ Domestic Worker Bill of Rights which would afford basic labor rights and protections to New Jersey’s 50,000 domestic workers, many of whom are experiencing wage theft, denial of breaks, and lack of sick leave.

.There is so much awareness now about the long history of immigrants in America and the travails they have been through. DRUM Beats is a 501(c)(4) sibling organization of DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving, and “builds on its legacy of organizing working-class Indo-Caribbean and South Asian communities to build movements, and our capacities to transform political systems so that they serve our collective needs.”

As the creators of Drum Beat write: “The earliest collective presence of people of South Asian descent in the Americas is of laborers. Whether indentured workers in the Caribbean, Punjabi farmers on the West coast, or Bengali sailors on the East coast, they are the histories of the working-class. Now, as home workers, domestic workers, taxi drivers, street vendors, day laborers, restaurant and delivery workers, and students, our sweat and labor make this city run.”

This new organization is looking to organize in a strategic way to use social and political systems in the 2021 election cycle to serve the working class people.

And there are old organizations too doing what they do best, without giving up. We talked about the plight of the desi taxi drivers, who have been such a part of the New York story. NY Taxi Drivers Alliance, under the leadership of the braveheart advocate Bhairavi Desai, is still helping its hardworking drivers steer itself out of the economic downturn.

While the community is beset with problems, there is definite optimism for the future with the raised consciousness about racial and class equality due to the larger agitation for Black Lives Matter and the Asian American hate crimes.

The forgotten desis also have an anchor and bulwark in the emerging activists and defenders in the new generation of Indian-Americans who are also increasing their allyship with different marginalized groups and finding a common cause. New groups and alliances are being created almost daily as the young try to change the world.

For the wage-workers, the strugglers and those on the bottom rungs of the ladder, there is a new awareness of their rights and also an emerging confidence of their own possibilities.  The American Dream may be battered and bruised, it may have been put on a ventilator but it is by no means dead. It is being resuscitated by the dreamers and their inheritors and will surely be celebrated once again.

(c) Lavina Melwani

This article was first published in Khabar magazine