Why Innocent Indians Are Getting Kicked Out of America | Inside Trump's America

0:02 There is something happening to Indians in America right now that nobody's talking about. Ashley, wait. That's not true. People are talking about it, but they're just too terrified to go on record. We are delivering mass deportation, and it's happening very fast. We are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day. My neighbors, unfortunately, got taken. And they are not bad people. They came here for a better life. So last month I stumbled upon a piece of news that made no sense to me. An Indian student had his visa revoked because his name appeared in criminal records. What was his crime? A speeding ticket. I thought it had to be a mistake, right?

0:48 But then I found another case, then another, then dozens more. Student visas being revoked for jaywalking tickets. That is ridiculous. So I put out a call to my audience. Just a simple question. Are you an Indian student or working professional in America? I need your help. In 48 hours, I had 112 responses. And 45% of the responses shared the same story. Perfect academic record. Minor traffic violation from years ago. Sudden visa termination. What the hell is going on? I was in America just last month. I saw the fear in people's eyes. Students who told me they are laying low. engineers with 10 years of experience there making a plan B, plan C. One girl, a PhD student, she asked me not to use a name because they are watching social

1:34 media now. They who's they and why are they doing this? So I did what I always do when something doesn't add up. I started digging and what I found you need to see this [Music] to understand what's happening. We need to talk about Trump and how 2025 Trump is different from 2017 Trump. See, in 2017, his moto was build the wall. It was pretty straightforward. If you're here illegally, you're in trouble. If you're here legally, you're fine. Follow the rules, pay taxes, you are good. But something changed when he came back to power this time. Within 4 days of taking office, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents, or ICE agents, arrested 538 people. is the biggest

2:21 opening week they've had in decades. But here's what the media missed. Okay, while everyone was looking at undocumented immigrants, they quietly changed the rules for legal immigrants as well. On January 20th, Trump signed this executive order. It basically states that they can now target any immigrant they want, even if you've only had minor violations that you already resolved. They call it enhanced enforcement of legal status violations. Here's what that actually means. Okay? Any interaction with police, literally any interaction can now trigger a review of your visa. And when they review it, they don't just look at what happened today. They go through your entire history. One of the students, Priya, a PhD student in America. She faced a traffic violation in 2021, paid the fine

3:06 immediately. Case closed, right? But four years later, they found that ticket and cancelled her visa. I wanted to understand how common this was. From those 112 responses I got, I noticed that most of the people who've had their visas revoked had got a traffic violation at least 2 or 3 years ago. Now, I know this sounds ridiculous and I wish it ended here, but let me tell you more. But before I get to that, I would like to introduce you to our partner for this segment, Headshot. Headshot is revolutionizing the gaming industry. Check this out. It can turn your phone into a gaming console in seconds. Yep, it plugs straight into your phone and just like that you have a library of 500 plus insane games on your phone with the headshot app. The best part though is

3:51 that you can charge your phone while you're gaming. Everybody in our team is addicted to this because it's basically console level gaming but in your pocket. We have an AV exclusive code that gives the first 200 people,000 rupees off instantly. So check it out from the link in description and don't forget to use the code. Trump's warning comes as the State Department's launched a program to use artificial intelligence to scrape the social media accounts of foreign nationals including students. So internally they have a name for this program. It's called catch and revoke and it doesn't just flag you for speeding and parking tickets. This program uses artificial intelligence to monitor foreign nationals, particularly student visa holders, to identify individuals who express support for

4:37 Hamas or other US designated terrorist organizations through social media activity or participation in protests and revoke their visas. So students who have shared or liked posts about Palestine are also targets of these systems. They are literally watching and tracking every single thing now. But the question is, who is behind all of this? Is it just Trump? Is it somebody else? Let me introduce you to the architect. This is Stephen Miller. He designed Trump's immigration policies in both terms. And he's been pretty open about his goal. America is for Americans and Americans only. He wants to reduce all immigration, not just illegal immigration. And at a meeting in Washington last month, Miller told these ICE agents, that's the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents, that

5:24 they need to hit 3,000 immigrant arrests every single day. That is literally triple of what they were doing in Trump's first term. I want you to pause here and just think about what this means, okay? ICE agents now literally have quotas to meet like sales targets, but for human beings. Now, and when you put that kind of pressure on agents, things change. Let me give you some perspective. Under Biden, ICE was told to focus on very specific targets. That's people with serious criminal records. But now, the Guardian reports that they are being told to bring in whoever you find. They call these collateral arrests. Basically, if they come looking for one person and you happen to be there, even if you're there legally, you might get swept up too as part of their daily quotas. This is happening at Home Depot parking lots

6:09 where laborers wait for work, 7-Eleven stores, apartment buildings, even outside schools. We're not safe, guys. We're not safe in America today. Be careful. And now Trump wants to amp this up even further. Look at this recent tweet by Trump. In fact, they are now incentivizing immigrants to self-report. This is one of the latest statements by DHS America. Any illegal alien who uses the CBP Home app to self-report will also receive a stipen of $1,000. They are literally paying people to leave the country. Now, I know a lot of terminology here is about illegal aliens or illegal immigrants. But I feel like the lines between legal and illegal are really blurring out right now. And you know what really sucks? A big part of who's facing the brunt of all of this, it's the Indian students and workers.

6:56 Because look at these stats, okay? A third of the foreign students in US schools. It's Indians. Just in 2024, 3 lakh 30,000 students went to America for higher education. We make up about 72% of H1B visa holders. We are literally the biggest group of legal skilled workers there. So when they go looking for violations, statistically they find more of us. In fact, 50% of international students in the US who have recently had their visas revoked or service records terminated were from India according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. And it doesn't end here. Indians are also now being targeted for a lot of these deportation scams. Yep. There's so much fear around deportation that it's now become a ripe ground to extort money from these students. Basically, these

7:43 scammers pretend to be immigrant officers. Call these students and say, "You're going to be arrested and deported unless you pay up." One of the students, Shria Bi, lost 4.2 lakhs to this scam. It happened to another Indian and this is what she received. This is to notify you from consulate general of India that your passport will be potentially blacklisted due to unresolved legal issue. So why am I telling you all this? I'm not sharing this to discourage you from going and studying in America. That's a decision you need to make by yourself for yourself after doing your own research. But you need to be aware of the kind of administration you are up against. The Trump administration is changing green card applications effective immediately. You see the process of getting permanent residency in America is already

8:28 extremely strenous and these new policies and laws are just making the situation worse for a diaspora that has contributed so much to this country. Let me give you a quick snapshot of the process of going from a student to a permanent resident in America. Okay? I'm not talking about the outliers who go on overs. I'm talking about what 99% of Indians do when they go to America. So if you're going as a student for undergrad or postgrad, you first land in the US on an F1 visa. That's the student visa and get registered on service. That's the student and exchange visitor information system, the web-based system that the US Department of Homeland Security uses to track you. Now let me show you some of the recent statements that the US has released regarding the F1 visa. The US Secretary of State, that's Marco Rubio, he emphasizes that a

9:13 visa is a is not a right, it is a privilege. Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, the Secretary of State has the authority to revoke visas of foreign nationals deemed a threat to public order or national interest. That is your catch and revoke program in action. But I've also got some good news. So based on the small study we did with the 112 people, many of them reported that even if your F1 visas and service is terminated, you can go get a lawyer, go to court, fight for it, and get it reinstated. Especially if it's for things like parking tickets, speeding tickets, traffic violations. Yes, it is a hassle. But if you're a student who's already in the US and have paid [ __ ] tons of fees to these colleges to study there, go fight for your

10:00 education and get your visa back. Now let's come to the next part and talk about H-1B workers. That's the backbone of American tech. You see, after you graduate in America, you get something called OPT. Basically, permission to work for 1 to 3 years. 3 years if you're in STEM fields. Then if you're lucky, your company sponsors you for an H1B visa. I say lucky because it's literally dependent on luck. It's actually a lottery. So last year around 7.8 8 lakh people applied and every year only 85,000 people get selected. I've actually done a whole video breaking down the H1B which you can watch right here. So you see you can graduate from the top colleges, do the best internships, get hired by the top companies, and still get rejected because your name didn't come up in a

10:45 computer randomizer. But even if you win this lottery, you are not safe. So under Trump's new rules, any criminal record, even if it's misdemeanor, can get your visa revoked. your employer can decide they don't want you anymore and decide not to renew and you're out. There will be layoffs and suddenly you are lost. You know, you have 60 days to find another job and stay in the US otherwise you become illegal. And while laid off H1B professionals currently retain a 60-day window to secure new employment, DHS has signaled and intend to shorten this period to 30 days from 60 days in a forthcoming rule. Even posting the wrong thing on social media can end this American dream. Let me tell you about someone I met in the Silicon Valley last month. He's a senior controls design engineer and has been there for 9 years. Has a house and mortgage. His wife just

11:31 gave birth to their first child, but he's still on H1B, still temporary, still one layoff away from deportation. He told me, and I'm quoting him word to word, I check my mail every morning with my heart racing because any day could be the day ICE comes for me, and I've just had a daughter, so this uncertainty is terrifying. I asked him, why is he still here? He said, "I've been here for almost a decade now. This is what my home is. I don't want to go back." Almost a decade is a very long time. So I asked him about his green card, whether he's ever going to get it. And man, I've spoken about this earlier, but this is one thing that truly blows my mind every single time. You know, Indians currently have to wait 195 years

12:17 for a green card. I am not exaggerating. The Congressional Research Service calculated this. So, if you apply today, your great great great grandchildren might end up getting it. And here's why. Okay, you see, America only gives out 140,000 employment based green cards per year. But there's a catch. No country can get more than 7% of those. So, India with 1.4 billion people gets the same kota as Luxembourg with 600,000 people. Currently, 1.2 million Indians are waiting in line. And you know, even if you get a green card, the Trump administration recently issued a warning. Behave like guests in the US or face deportation. It seems like they'll deport anybody who's not a citizen. But wait, if you're born in America, you're

13:02 a citizen, right? Well, one of Trump's first acts as the 47th president was an executive order trying to end birthright citizenship. Three federal judges have struck it down. There's been a lot of fights around it, a lot of debate, but who knows how that fight ends. You know, honestly, a lot of this would make sense if migrants were bringing down the economy. Try to understand the logic. Why purge highly skilled immigrants? The data says it makes absolutely no sense. So, I found a report which basically stated that each H-1B worker creates two to three jobs for Americans. Indian immigrants have created over 1 million jobs through startups. They contribute $300 billion to US GDP every single year. And even the Silicon Valley has been continuously complaining and saying that this is literally their biggest

13:47 problem. So economically, a lot of these policies are absolute madness. A lot of people have voiced their concerns against these policies. People are pushing back, but things keep escalating. Last week, in fact, nationwide protests erupted against Trump's immigration policies. You know what his response was? He deployed more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines. For context, the Pentagon publicly reports that they have 2,000 US troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq. So yeah, he's literally sending more people to fight the legal and illegal migrants than the troops that are stationed in these countries. But I guess this is what it is. This is Trump's America and it seems like he will go to any lens against anybody who comes in his way. I

14:34 set up the segment to share some important news with all of you. So 2 and 1/2 years ago, we started a video editing school around the thesis that video editing and content creation are going to become long-term viable careers because as products become easier to build, distribution will become the mode and people who know how to build distribution will have a lot of leverage. As of now, we have trained 3,500 students and turns out somewhere our thesis was right. Don't take my word for it. Check this out. Like I'm quite sure you also talk to your friends and family and definitely you talk about your career. Yeah. So what was that what is that conversation like now? It's very different now. What what has changed? Since I'm a cinematographer, I've gotten the opportunity to meet various founders. Biggest example is serious. We work with this branch. We worked with

15:20 Nvidia. We work with Google. Video creation and now it has so and so million views of comments. I think that dopamine hit makes me want to come to office every day. Parents, if you talk to my friends, they have seen it. Everyone's cool content right now. They've seen the work. I am really happy. Every day I wake up and like I'm going to do something creative. Not just the folks you saw just now, there are more. So yes, editing and making videos is a viable career option in 2025. You know, from creators to companies, you will see everyone is looking for an editor, a video producer, motion designer and a lot more new roles in Genai in content economy which are just emerging. I'm not

16:05 exaggerating. We have more recruiters than students sitting for placements as of now and getting packages higher than engineering colleges. So, if you're a student, a job seeker, someone who is looking to get into this industry, we can help. We're doing a free master class where we break down everything about editing, video making, and a lot more. So, check it out. It's absolutely free. And more importantly, it might help you pick up some useful content skills that can help with your career. Anyway, putting the link in description. See you there. You know the people I spoke to the students in America right now a lot of them were like we don't care let him do whatever he wants we are going to fight we have paid money we want this education we are going to stay and we are going to get this damn education and they are fighting many Indian students

16:51 are going to courts for visas being revoked unlawfully and winning in the courts and getting their visas back. I also asked all of them considering you're living there and facing all of this. What is your advice for anyone coming now or people going through this right now? So a lot of them said that if you're planning to study in America, face the reality you're going for education and experience not permanent settlement anymore. Have a backup plan Canada, UK, Australia or returning to India. Thirdly, do not take massive loans assuming a US salary will repay them. This is one thing every single person said. Honestly, if you are from a financially wellto-d do family and can easily pay for this, then yes, the risk is worth it. Do not put your parents through the trouble of a loan for this experience right now. Next, they said

17:37 that build skills that are valuable globally and network with people who are returning. A lot of them are building amazing things and need a lot of talent. Secondly, I asked them what can people do who are already in America. The first thing that everybody said was please document everything your visas approvals every immigration interaction. Secondly, do not assume you're safe. Keep lawyers on speed dial. Third is build portable wealth. Do not log everything into US real estate. And lastly, worst case, you have no choice. Make peace with returning to India or moving elsewhere. It is not a failure. It's America's loss. You know, watching all of this happen and speaking to a lot of these people honestly really boiled my blood. But as I was speaking to some of them, I was also left in awe of the Indian

18:24 spirit because a lot of these people were like, "We are not backing down. We have come here to study. We have come here to work. We'll figure it out." And honestly, one of the sweetest things and I feel like the best highlight of this whole process was one of the people I was speaking to, he had been fired twice last year and while we were talking, he literally got his H-1B approved. So yeah, it also made me realize that Indians are some of the most hardworking people I've seen. So even though the whole system is rigged against them, they'll fight, they'll win and they'll figure out a way to make the best out of the situation. So if you are somebody who is watching this from America and has gone through this whole process and come out on the other side, I really really urge you to share your experience, insights, anecdotes in the

19:09 comments for students who plan to go study there or people who are planning to go work there. So everybody can be better prepared because at the end of the day I feel like knowledge is power and right now that's one of the best defense that these students and working professionals can have. That is all for today's video. My name is Aina Maya. Thank you for watching. See you in the next one. [Music]