Indian-American community leader calls Kamala Harris 'best bet' for Biden's running mate

An Indian-American community leader said that Kamala Harris is the best bet as a running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as speculations around it intensifies. Neil Makhija, executive director of IMPACT, wrote in an Op-Ed published by CNN that Harris has the experience of immigrants as well as Black Americans.

During a Democratic debate for presidential elections, Harris had revealed that her mother arrived in America alone at the age of 19 with a mission to cure cancer. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was supposed to have an arranged marriage but she got involved in the civil rights movement and met Donald Harris, originally from Jamaica.

“Harris knows the Black American experience. She knows the South Asian-American experience. She knows the immigrant experience. She knows the aspirational power of the American dream. She is the running mate for this moment,” wrote Makhija.

IMPACT is a civic organisation that helps recruit, train, and elect Indian-Americans at all levels of government. The former Vice-President had pledged to choose a woman as his running mate and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests have increased the possibility of the candidate being a woman of colour.

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Immigration policy

US President Donald Trump’s proclamation to temporarily suspend employment-based nonimmigrant visas and reform H-1B immigration program has been denounced by immigrants and nonimmigrants alike. The Trump Administration has decided to reform the immigration system to “prioritise the highest-skilled workers and protect American jobs”, hitting Indian diaspora the hardest.

“A Biden-Harris ticket would send a message that no door is closed to Indian-Americans in public life, at a time when we're beginning to flex our political muscle,” he wrote.

Makhija said that Trump has built an alliance with the “populist and Hindu nationalist” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the pair have appeared together at packed rallies in both Houston, Texas and Ahmedabad, India. He argued that Harris running for vice-president would be historic and inspiring to Black Americans as well as millions of voters of South Asian descent.

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