Immigration has been the backbone of the American success stories so far. However, the recent policy measures have already derailed the script. The USA economy is no more that strong. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis as quoted in texaspolicy mentioned that the “GDP contracted by 5% (annualized) in Q1:2020 and 31.7% in Q2:2020 for a total GDP loss of $2 trillion this year”. Various wrong policies are targeting Immigrants and COVID-19 has created havoc to the USA economy.
Emerging China
The Global economy is highly interlinked. Any slow down in China (being one of the largest economies) will also influence USA adversely. Therefore, the recent trade war between USA and China created harm to the entire global economy in general and both the American and Chinese economy in particular. As the import and exports between China and USA are very much linked to their own growth, it is important that they should think of making things smooth.
The great American dream that was the hall mark of 20th and early 21st century will be fading soon with the dragon economy creating its own script. With mega plans such as BRI projects, China is gradually positioning itself as the next economic and political super power.
The Indian Story!
People of Indian origin constitute 6% of total foreign-born population in USA. There are 2.4 million of Indian immigrants in the United States as of 2015, the IOM report mentioned, positioning them as the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans. In 2016, Indians were the top recipients of high-skilled H-1B temporary visas and were the second-largest group of international students in the United States.
The rise of modern enterprising hubs such as Silicon Valley is a hall mark of modern economy. It is consistently supporting new innovations and startups and hence creating great advantages for USA in particular. This is possible due to welcoming and facilitating high skilled immigrants to the USA. Henrique Dubugr as in his article in techcrunch observed that “not only are 57 percent of the Bay Area’s STEM tech workers immigrants, they also make up 25 percent of business founders in the U.S…more than 50 percent of billion-dollar startups are founded by immigrants, and many of those startups were founded by immigrants on H-1B visas”. Immigrants who were once upon a time considered as job creators are now suspected as job suckers by the radical right wing politicians. This perception is not going to change soon. Therefore, it has created great divide among the insiders and outsiders and hence incurring great economic cost for the America in long run.
No More American Dream America has been the gravitational pull for decades for attracting all that is best in the world be it best musician, entrepreneurs, students etc. The dream is halted now due to wrong immigration policies and COVID-19. The high unemployment rate which is historic fall to 7.9 % in September 2020 and the rising social unrest could make the matter further worst.