US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated that the Trump's administration's ongoing clampdown on legal immigration is not a direct attack on India.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Rubio said the changes were part of a broader effort to overhaul the US immigration system and are being applied globally.
His comments came in response to a question about concerns among Indians, including students and the large diaspora in the US, over recent visa restrictions, the H-1B debate and a deepening anti-immigrant rhetoric. The question also referred to a recently foiled plot to attack a temple.
"So the first thing is that every country has to have immigration laws. If they don’t, they are not a sovereign country. And this is not about India; this applies globally," Rubio told The Indian Express.
Rubio said that the US was dealing with the consequences of years of problems in its immigration system and argued that several immigration programmes had been abused. He also cited birth tourism as an example, saying it involved other countries rather than India.
"Frankly, we have seen many of these programmes being abused. Again, it is not unique to Indians or India," he said. "So we are trying to fix 20 years of neglect of an immigration system… and that is not targeted towards India," Rubio added.
Why India feels the impact
Rubio acknowledged that changes to the US visa system can have a significant impact on Indians because of the large number of applicants from the country in some visa categories.
"Now, obviously, because of the developments, because of the ties between our countries, because of how developed your economy is, there are certain categories of visas that see a large number of Indians applying for," he said.
The US, he said, still wants foreign students, workers, visitors and investors, but wants immigration to take place under laws that are followed.
"We want people to visit the United States. We want people to study in the United States. There are certain people that we want, that want to come work for a time in the United States. We want people to invest in the United States, and we are always going to have people immigrate to the United States," Rubio said.
"But we want it done through a system of laws that are complied with," he added.
'Biggest threat to legal immigration is illegal immigration'
Rubio also sought to draw a distinction between legal immigration and illegal immigration, arguing that large-scale unauthorised migration could undermine legal pathways.
"The biggest threat to legal immigration is illegal immigration. The biggest threat to legal immigration is mass migration, which again is not an Indian phenomenon (but) more unique to other parts of the world," he said.
Rubio acknowledged that US policy changes could appear to be directed at India because of their effect on Indian applicants, but rejected that interpretation.
"And while I know that from your perspective here in India, it may seem targeted at India, (but) it’s not," he said.
"There is virtually no country on Earth that I visit where I don’t get a complaint about some visa or process, because we are fixing it globally."
Rubio said the administration believed the changes would eventually make US immigration programmes more sustainable.
"Once it’s fixed, it will be far more sustainable. I actually think it will be better for the people using those programmes, and right and good for the United States," he said.