HANDCUFFING THE IMMIGRANT DREAM

The long-term solution to illegal immigration is to develop employment opportunities in the countries from where they hail, argues

RAJENDRA ANEJA

Like Indians across countries, I was aghast to see Indian immigrants, who were in America illegally, returning home in shackles and handcuffs.  I was embarrassed, that after 75 years of independence, my countrymen were returning in a demeaning manner. Sure, it was their fault for having over-stayed their legal welcome in America. Nevertheless, the episode left a bitter taste.

Indians are respected across the world. Indian managers manage many multinational corporations, like Google, in America and Europe. Indian-origin businessmen keep the wheels of industry and trade moving seamlessly, in East and West Africa. Indians are well-accepted in South-East Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

Indian soldiers garnered rich accolades, when 2.5 million of them fought under the Allies banner, in World War II, between 1935 and 1945. About 87,000 of them lost their lives in the War. Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, the Commander-in-Chief of India, said that Britain “couldn’t have come through both wars (World Wars I and II), if they hadn’t had the Indian Army.” 

All eyes were on President Mr. Donald Trump, as to how he would actually deal with the immigrants in America. He had threatened to send them back to their countries, by the planeload. He has started the process.

The important question is, why do people from Asia and Latin America want to migrate to the West? Quite simply, because they do not have adequate job opportunities in their own home countries. They find life easier in the West because of higher social security and medical benefits. They also get jobs, even if it is as delivery staff for pizzas. They can feed their families. These people are unhappy in their own home countries. Hence, they seek livelihoods in the West. Happy people, do not migrate to other countries.

The long-term solution to illegal immigration is to develop employment opportunities in the countries from where they hail. Mexico, India and the African countries are the principal regions from where the immigrants hail. These countries should create massive job opportunities and develop their social support services.

Developing countries like India and Mexico need to expand employment opportunities within the country. Many sectors of their economies like construction, roadbuilding, information-technology, modern agriculture, distribution and logistics, poultry farming, animal husbandry, etc., have immense potential for employment generation. They should expand these industries.

Developing countries should foster entrepreneurship, to retain their bright talent. Countries like India, Mexico, Kenya, Nigeria, etc., should aim to innovate in technology. These countries should be the birthplaces of new technologies and global corporations like Google. It is significant that most global technological corporations, all took birth in the West.

India has yet to produce an organisation of the scale of Google, Microsoft, Amazon, WhatsApp, ChatGPT, General Motors, Ford, etc. Developing countries need to build world class, global corporations, with cutting-edge technologies, to lure talent.

Many years ago, when I worked in Brazil, I observed that the local managers did not want to be expatriated to other countries, even to Europe. They were delighted with the local salaries, work conditions and the culture of the country. Even a promotion or an expatriate salary, did not lure many Brazilians. I hoped that someday, Indians too, opt to work at home rather than seek careers abroad. Alas, that time seems far away.

Developing countries like India should also promote meritocracy and opportunities for growth within corporations. India is very proud that many top corporations in the USA, like Microsoft and IBM, are managed by CEOs of Indian origin. We hero-worship these highfliers. However, why could India not retain these bright CEOs? They had to go abroad and prove themselves in a foreign country, perhaps because there were inadequate opportunities locally. Developing economies need to foster an atmosphere of learning, research and scholarship, in their universities and corporations to retain their talent. They also need to revamp their urban and rural infrastructure on a war-footing, to inspire youngsters to stay in the country.

India as the fifth largest economy in the world, with ambitious plans for growth, should also focus on creating labour-intensive jobs. When youngsters cannot get well-paying jobs in their own countries, they take grave risks and pay large amounts of moneys to dubious agents, to migrate to America.

India should also make energetic efforts to promote family-planning and harness its population growth. In Punjabi, we have an idiom, “Jitney chaddar ho, utne paer felane chaayie” (stretch your legs according to the length of the sheet covering you). It means assess your resources and then plan your life. About seven percent of the India’s population, yet lives below the poverty line. Then, there is need to limit the number of children a family should plan for. There is no point is brushing this fact, under the carpet.

During the emergency imposed by the former Prime Minister Mrs. India Gandhi between 1975 and 1977, family planning was imposed with some coercion across the country. Officials in states, towns and even villages, had targets for vasectomies. The policy was executed haphazardly. People were upset. Mrs. Gandhi lost the election.

Since then, most governments have fought shy of promoting family planning. It is time to encourage family planning and birth control, through education and awareness.

Some time ago, the Indian PM had said that India is the youth factory of the world. True. However, India must also find avenues to absorb these youngsters in gainful employment within the country. Then, they will have productive careers at home and will not want to go abroad illicitly.

America should deal with its illegal immigrants in a humane manner. It is not the fault of the immigrants that they seek a bit of the sky. They are merely looking for a living, a better life for themselves and their children. We should be generous to our fellow-men, who have not had the same opportunities of nutrition, education and exposure, that others have had.

Aneja was the Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the author of “Rural Marketing Across Countries.” He writes from Mumbai, India