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Rajeevan, Parvathi

University of British Columbia

According to the International Organization for Migration (2011a), migration involves movement "to another country or region to better their material or social conditions and improve prospects for themselves or their family" (International Organization for Migration 2011a). It is well known that moving to a new country and adapting to the local environment can be traumatic for immigrants due to the intense physical and emotional stresses associated with migration. According to the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS), there are about 4,606,000 Indians living in the United States (Budiman 2021). In addition to the everyday struggles immigrants face in adapting to a new country, many Indian immigrants in USA faced a new set of challenges when Donald Trump became President. Trump’s rhetoric of “America for Americans” and “Make America Great Again” made many new immigrants, including the so-called “model minority”, feel unwelcome and even exacerbated their sense of precarity and uncertainty. Few studies have been done on the varying ways South Asian diaspora communities navigate the heightened racial, political and economic environment within the last ten years. This qualitative study will explore the experiences of Indian IT immigrants who reside in Dallas, Texas, on temporary work visas and how this rising tech city has figured into the South Asian migrant imaginary. The research also draws on personal experience combined with qualitative data involving primarily virtual interviews. This research, delving into the struggles and aspirations of the South Asian diaspora, aims to offer insights into their transnational lives, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of this sizeable demographic. I also bring attention to the gender disparities experienced by women on H4 visas and delve into their lives, where they often grapple with loss of financial and overall independence, along with instances of neglect and abuse.

Text

2024-03-15

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87580

Interdisciplinary Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/