One of America's most successful experiments is coming to a halt

It was a joyous day, the fulfillment of a quarter-century of hard work and relentless fundraising. Srinivasachary Tamirisa, a retired doctor living in Sugar Land, Texas, beamed with pride as his dream - to erect a statue of Hanuman on the grounds of a temple he had helped found - came to life. A crowd of hundreds gathered as both "Vande Mataram," and "The Star-Spangled Banner" were played, a perfect encapsulation of Indian Americans' easy blending into the mores of their adopted home. But just outside, dozens of conservatives gathered, castigating what they called "a demon god." "Why are we allowing a false statue of a false Hindu God to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation," a US Senate candidate asked. Tamirisa, who emigrated 50 years ago, was stunned. He had built a life that seemed the epitome of American ideal: a successful career as an OB-GYN, delivering about a dozen babies a month. He paid taxes faithfully, raised his children in the affluent Houston suburb, then sent them off to attend elite colleges and become doctors and investment bankers. He had proudly become a citizen. And this is how his adopted country repaid that devotion? "I thought this was heaven on earth.

" Tamirisa said. These experiences have led him to question everything about his adopted home and wonder whether future generations of Indians should set their sights on a life in America. If he had his way, he'd return to India himself. "It's not the same," he said. "Why am I here? I question that to myself." Amid an astonishing wave of anti-Indian animus, it's a question many Indian Americans are asking. In its crudest form, mostly expressed on social media, this antipathy shows up as gutter racism and religious bigotry.

But it is fostered, in barely cloaked forms, by top Republican officials who accuse Indians of stealing American jobs. "They engage in a lot of cheating on immigration policies that is very harmful to American workers," Stephen Miller, architect of Trump's immigration crackdown, said.

Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida referred to the H-1B visa programme as "chain migration run amok". It is a startling turn in one of the most successful migration experiments in modern history.

Since 1965, when civil rights immigration law opened the US to migrants from countries across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Indians have immigrated to the US. "Indian Americans have really been, in many ways, the poster children for America's legal skilled immigration regime," said Milan Vaishnav, director of South Asia Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Now, all of a sudden, decades of mutually beneficial migration are coming to a shuddering halt.

Most Americans have positive views of Indian Americans. But the combination of anti-Indian rhetoric and visa policies has already had a powerful chilling effect. Indians last year became the largest contingent of foreign students at US universities, but this year arrivals fell by 44%. The US has been profoundly changed by Indians coming to the country.

It stands to reason it will be changed by their not coming, too. When Sai Sushma Pasupuleti arrived at University of Houston in 2023 to pursue a doctorate in electrical engineering, that path was wide open. Now, it is all but blocked.Recently, she attended a job fair. She approached booth after booth, resume in hand. But each representative asked one question: Are you a US citizen? When she said she was not, they sent her away. "I would like to find some secure place." Perhaps she could find a job in Europe.

She doesn't regret the decision to come to the US and said her degree will be valuable wherever she goes. But given how much US has invested in her education, it is puzzling that it seems determined to send her away. Three of her fellow students are also from elsewhere - two from China and one from Ivory Coast. Foreign students have been awarded more doctorates than have US citizens and permanent residents for over two decades. For all the talk about abolishing DEI in favor of merit, Trump govt seems to believe merit must be redefined in nationalist terms. Its National Security Strategy said so explicitly. "Should merit be smothered, America's historic advantages in science, technology, industry, defence and innovation will evaporate," the document states. However, "we cannot allow meritocracy to be used as a justification to open America's labour market to the world in the name of finding 'global talent' that undercuts American workers.

" Trumpism seems to be seeking a form of talent autarky. This is a radical change, and one that will surely leave the US poorer, weaker and more isolated.