A popular database has sparked new debate about the success of minority groups in the US in the wake of Indian-American investor Sriram Krishnan‘s nomination as Senior Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
The information comes as a reaction to complaints from some people who claim that Indian newcomers, like Krishnan, are “exploiting” the US labour market.
The data, which has also been shared by Elon Musk, reveals the financial success of some minority communities, with Indian Americans leading the pack. Their median household income of$ 126, 705 is nearly double that of White Americans, who earn$ 69, 823.
The American Community Survey’s dataset highlights the economic contributions of immigrant groups in the US. Taiwanese Americans and Filipino Americans follow Indian Americans with median household incomes of$ 102, 405 and$ 100, 273, respectively. Indonesian Americans ($ 93, 501 ), Pakistani Americans ($ 87, 509 ), and Iranian Americans ($ 87, 288 ) also out-earn White Americans. This demonstrates how crucially important an immigrant community is in driving economic growth, especially in highly skilled fields like medicine and technology.
This information comes as a storm of criticism from far-right organizations, especially from advocate Laura Loomer, is being directed at Krishnan. Loomer voiced worries about Krishnan’s session, claiming it runs counter to Trump’s” America First” plan, especially in light of Krishnan’s past campaigning for removing country-specific cap on natural cards. When Trump chooses anyone who wants to remove all limitations on green cards caps, how can we manage immigration and promote America First technology? Loomer questioned on X, sparking anti-Indian and anti-immigrant language online.
In response to these problems, Krishnan has won over overt help from business figures like Sacks and Musk. Musk refuted the accusations, dismissing them as a result of the “fixed dessert” mistake, saying,” There is basically eternal potential for work and business development”.
Baskets, who will collaborate with Krishnan on AI plan, emphasized that Krishnan supports a merit-based immigration program and aims to shorten the time it takes to obtain natural cards, especially for Indian citizens.
The contentious issue has even sparked new discussions about the country-specific caps and the H-1B immigration system, which lead to significant backlogs for nations like India. In 2023, American immigrants accounted for 72 % of H-1B visa approvals, highlighting their central position in the US high-skilled labor. These nation caps, but, impose restrictions on applicants ‘ ability to obtain permanent citizenship, with some requiring longer than ten years to obtain natural cards.
Congressman Ro Khanna has also defended Krishnan, blaming the duplicity of criticizing Indian refugees while ignoring the background of statistics like Musk and Jensen Huang from Nvidia.
