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    IMMIGRATION                                                       NOVEMBER 28, 2025        |  The Indian Eye 34

                                     Navigating the

                        Immigration Maze in

                 an Age of Fear and Hope

            CYRUS MEHTA                stands in their way.       labor certifications were ap-  has weaponized it further  dani has been subjected to
                                                                  proved. And still they wait—  through cruelty. He rose to  vile racist and Islamophobic
               mmigration is one of the     A System in Crisis    sometimes longer than a hu-  power demonizing immi-    attacks, all because his ascent
               most complex areas of                              man lifetime.               grants, and since his second  represents immigrant pow-
            Ithe law—so complex that         here are far too few     We also see enormous    inauguration in January 2025,  er—and  that  terrifies  those
                                             legal pathways for
            even seasoned lawyers strug-  Tpeople to come to the   delays in processing petitions   he has embraced that cruelty  who have implemented pol-
            gle to keep pace with shifting   United States, whether to re-  for “immediate relatives”—  openly.          icies to subjugate them and
            rules, changing interpreta-  unite with family or to work   spouses,  parents,  minor  He  empowered  peo-   keep them in line.
            tions, and unpredictable out-  for employers who genuinely   children—people  who  are   ple like Stephen Miller and   This administration has
            comes.                     need their skills.         supposed to have the most   Kristi Noem to unleash ICE  repeatedly declared that even
                Yet despite this com-                             direct legal path. Add to this   in unprecedented ways—de-  lawful permanent residents
                                           It is unconscionable that
            plexity, people continue to   highly skilled Indian-born   the unpredictability  of  visa   taining noncitizens for lawful  are merely “guests” who may
            come. They come because    professionals  must  wait  stamping abroad, and fami-  speech that displeases the  be removed for speech that
            the United States has long   many decades for a green   lies are thrown into needless   administration.      offends those in power. They
            represented freedom, op-   card. These individuals al-  uncertainty.                                         portray immigrants as  un-
            portunity, and the promise   ready have bona fide job of-  And then comes one of   Foreign  students    at   welcome, job-stealing, dan-
            of a better future. But our   fers. Their employers tested   the most frustrating prob-                      gerous interlopers—despite
            immigration system—deep-   the U.S. labor market. Their   lems:  the  government  re- prestigious U.S. univer-  the reality that immigrants
            ly flawed as it is—too often                          peatedly shifts the goalposts.   sities  have  been  taken   are the backbone of the la-
                                                                      For instance, a  new pub-                          bor force in construction,
                                                                      lic charge policy allows  by  masked  ICE  agents  agriculture, caregiving, tech-
                                                                      consular officers to deny   simply for protesting   nology,  and  countless  other
                                                                      visas  simply because                              sectors.
                                                                      a  person  has  common  Israel’s military opera-      They imagine an Amer-
                                                                      conditions like obesity   tion in Gaza, which has   ica without immigrants—a
                                                                      or  diabetes—a  discrim-                           fantasy that has never existed
                                                                      inatory and medically  resulted in over 65,000  and never will.
                                                                      unsound expansion of    deaths.
                                                                      the rule.                                          Authoritarianism Begins With
                                                                          Let us not forget                                      Noncitizens
                                                                                                 Visas have been revoked
                                                                      that the Trump admin-   for individuals who criticized
                                                                      istration  even  floated  a   the President, including No-  e  must   under-
                                                                      $100,000  filing  fee  for   bel laureates, or who voiced   stand this clearly:
                                                                      H-1B petitions—anoth-   critical views of Charlie Kirk   WAuthoritarianism
                                                                      er unmistakable signal   after his death. All such   rarely begins with citizens. It
                                                                      that their objective is not   speech is protected by the   begins with noncitizens.
                                                                      fairness, but exclusion.   First Amendment.           Once the rights of immi-
                                                                      It then sought to rein-    Even  U.S. citizens  have   grants are trampled, as that
                                                                      terpret  and  clarify,  but   been caught in these sweeps,   can be more easily achieved,
                                                                      caused more confusion.   creating a level of fear this   this erosion expands out-
                                                                      As a result of Trump’s                             ward. By the time citizens
                         m of                                         attacks on the H-1B visa   country has never expe-  recognize the danger, the
              CYRUS D. MEHTA & PARTNERS PLLC                          program that is wide-   rienced  in  modern  times.   mechanisms  of  oppression
                                                                                              America—once revered as a
                                                                      ly used by Indian na-                              are already in place.
                                                                                                 beacon of freedom—has not

                 tionals, racists are now   seen such weaponization of   This is why knowing our
                                                                      openly targeting Indian                            rights  is  essential.  You  do

                                Americans.  immigration power since its   not have to speak to ICE

                                     darkest moments.

                                                                                                  if approached in the street.
                                                                           Fear as Policy        Trump and some Repub-   Agents need a judicial war-
                                                                                              lican politicians have openly   rant—not an ICE-issued
                                                                            s defective as    threatened to deport natural-  form—to arrest you.
                                                                            the immigration   ized citizens in the hope that
              2              6th Floor                                Asystem        already  they can denaturalize them.   And we need lawyers
                                                                      is,  President  Trump   Mayor-elect Zohran Mam-

                                                                       willing to defend these rights

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