Obama's immigration policy may help Indians

Washington, Jan 21 (PTI) In what could be seen as a boon
to Indians wishing to come to the US, the new Obama
Administration's proposed immigration policy favours increase
in the number of the legal immigrants in the country.

Governmental statistics in the past have indicated that
Indians are mostly legal immigrants.

"Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and
increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families
together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot
fill," according to the White House document that outlines the
Immigration Agenda of the new Administration.

"Our broken immigration system can only be fixed by
putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that
secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our
heritage as a nation of immigrants," Obama says in the paper.

The agenda document also promises to remove incentives to
enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who
hire undocumented immigrants.

The Obama Administration would also support a system that
allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay
a fine, learn English and go to the back of the line for the
opportunity to become citizens.

Delivering a speech on the floor of the Senate on May 23,
2007, then as the US Senator, Obama, who was sworn in as
President yesterday, had said: "The time to fix our broken
immigration system is now... We need stronger enforcement on
the border and at the workplace.

"But for reform to work, we also must respond to what
pulls people to America... Where we can reunite families, we
should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with
the skills our economy needs, we should."