Indian-American businessman Kanwal Singh Rekhi, who became the first Indian-American to take a company public in Silicon Valley, said he is worried about the future amid the divisive atmosphere. The rhetoric against Indians has been heating up and policymakers are accusing Indians of cheating immigration policies, making it harder for Indians to get visas. The overall messaging is that Indians are not welcome in the US, Rekhi noted, saying that when he came to the US, the situation was different. America invited Indian talents not out of generosity but out of necessity.
Rekhi traced back the migration of Indians to the US and said the country in the 1960s was not producing enough scientists and engineers and the US was falling behind the Soviet Union. "So in 1967, with barely enough money to last a semester, I traveled from rural India to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to pursue a master’s degree in engineering. When we beat the Soviets to the moon, the fate of India and the US became inextricably linked," the veteran businessman wrote for San Francisco Chronicle.
