Miscellaneous
Nepalis in Trumpland
The election of Donald Trump has reverberated across United States and its vast immigrant community.The election of Donald Trump has reverberated across United States and its vast immigrant community. The victory of Trump, who as a candidate called for a ban on all Muslims entering into the US and has called Mexicans rapists; who are bringing crime into the US, has left many in the immigrant community feeling shocked, anxious and uncertain about the future.
Trump’s ferocious anti-immigrant rhetoric has mostly been directed towards Muslims and Latinos. His policy proposals on immigration has also largely focused on restricting immigration of people from those communities.
Apart from proposing ban of immigration from Muslim countries, Trump has also proposed building a wall on the southern border of the United States. His election combined with Islamophobic and anti-immigration rhetoric has had immediate repercussions. It has emboldened some into committing acts of intolerance against immigrants, sexual minorities, and people of colour. A spate of hate crimes and acts of intimidation and aggression targeting these communities have been reported. Meanwhile anti-Trump protests, have continued across the country. In a few instances they have been marred by violence.
Immigration is but one of the many concerns of the burgeoning expatriate Nepali population residing in the US. According the 2010 US census, there are about 55 thousand Nepalis living in the US. Other estimates show the figure to be as high as 300,000. Nepalis of every ethnic, cultural, regional and economic background make up the diaspora, which is comprised of students and professionals in both blue and white collar jobs. While most of the Nepalis residing in the US have acquired citizenship or are in the process of acquiring legal status, some migrants are either undocumented or have lost their legal status.
Escara Subba, an entrepreneur who lives in the election battleground state of Florida, which Trump won by a razor-thin margin, was elated with the election results. She came to the United States as a student and is now a US citizen. Subba thinks that Trump will be a beacon of hope to all the immigrants who are here in this country and believes that his stance on immigration will give opportunities to legal immigrants. She says, “It is unfair that legal immigrants and Americans have to compete for jobs with illegal immigrants.” She is concerned that the presence of undocumented immigrants has driven down wages and has contributed to higher rates of unemployment in the US.
Subba also likes Trump’s idea of building a wall along the Mexican border. She says that because people lose their lives every year while trying to cross illegally into United States, building a wall will prevent these deaths. “Not to mention, it also prevents Nepali migrants from being conned. Nepalis pay up to 25 lakhs to try to cross the border. Sometimes they don’t make it” she adds, alluding to the growing number of Nepali migrants who are being duped into paying thousands of dollars to traffickers and coyotes, for the promise of entry into the US through the Mexican border.
Subba, claims that her support of Donald Trump has made her a pariah in the Nepali community in Orlando. “I have experienced hate from our own community for supporting Trump” she says before adding, “One Nepali friend told me I wasn’t even welcome in his house anymore.”
Subba feels very resentful of the way that she has been treated. She says, “I would like to let you know that I am an open-minded person. I am a registered Democrat, who voted for Bernie in the primary, but decided to vote for Trump in the election.” She says that one of the reasons that she decided to vote for Trump, was because she believes that the Democratic Party colluded with Hillary Clinton to keep Bernie Sanders from the Democratic nomination. “I am sick of people who complain every day and yet pick the same leaders who don’t deliver and are corrupt.” She also believes that Bernie Sanders would have easily won, had he been the Democratic nominee.
Unlike Subba, Shyam (who didn’t want us to use his real name) oscillates between feeling fearful and feeling uncertain about a Trump administration. Like more than 11 million people in the US, Shyam was undocumented. However, he recently gained temporary protective status, after the US government extended the benefit to Nepali immigrants in the wake of the April 2015 earthquake.
He has lived in the United States for over ten years during which time, he hasn’t been able to go back to visit his home once. He had finally saved enough money for a trip to Nepal, but has had to put those plans on hold because he is unsure about whether the Trump administration will honour the Temporary Protective Status and allow him back into the US. Although Trump has not said anything about Temporary Protective Status, his rhetoric on immigration has been a cause of a lot of anguish for people like Shyam.
Shyam currently works as a cashier at a convenient store in Maryland. When asked for his reaction to the Trump presidency, he had more questions than answers. “Could he really round up millions of people? Would he actually do it? I haven’t committed a crime, does that mean I get to stay?” he asked hoping to get an answer. “For ten years I have worked really hard” he continued. “I encountered a series of misfortunes which led me to fall out of status.” He explained that the thought of having to go back not having earned a degree, without a whole lot of savings or investments to his name made him feel ashamed. “I have nothing to show for my ten years here. If I get sent back, how will I face my parents who invested so much money to send me here?” he says somberly.
Unlike Shyam, who had to drop out as a first year student, Gagan Atreya has managed to reach the highest levels in academia. He is a first year political science PhD student, who has lived in the United States for over eight years. He is not particularly concerned about Trump’s immigration policies affecting him. He says, “I have been on an F1 visa since 200eight. I don’t think I will have any problems renewing it since I am a legal, lawful immigrant pursuing a PhD, but who knows…” He wants to continue to live and work in the United States. “I have lived here for eight years now. Formed friendships and relationships here,” he says. “I would still like to stay in the US, get a tenured track job at a university and want to continue doing research.”
In the aftermath of Trump’s victory, Atreya is more worried about his safety. After learning about a spate of post-election hate crimes, in which minorities have been targeted, Atreya said that for the first time in his eight years of living in the United States, he felt physically unsafe. “I had my glorious Movember beard but after Trump’s election, I promptly shaved it,” he says laughing while attempting to find humour amid the bleak outlook that he sees in President Trump’s America.
Atreya however is hopeful that institutions in the United States are strong enough to withstand what he calls the “most tyrannical aspects” of a Trump presidency. “US institutions are pretty strong compared to say Turkey,” he says. That leaves me with room for hope.” When pressed about what he fears about a Trump presidency, Atreya says “Fears? I can’t even begin.”
- Upadhyay is a writer based out of Philadelphia