Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has been appointed as co-chair of the crucial Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, according to a statement.
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the 55-year-old first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, is the chair of the task force.
The aim of the immigration task force is to help in issues like support legislation to protect Dreamers and Temporary Protect Status (TPS) recipients, support comprehensive immigration reform, restore due process for immigrants, promote access to Citizenship and integration of AAPI immigrants among other things.
“I am honoured to be appointed as a co-chair of the CAPAC Immigration Task Force alongside co-chair Representative Pramila Jayapal as we continue to fight to ensure our immigration system reflects American values,” 47-year-old Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi represents Illinois’s 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives.
“My parents brought our family to the United States from India when I was only a few months old because they believed in the American Dream, just as immigrants do today,” he said.
“I’m proud to be taking on this new role within CAPAC on immigration issues and to build on my previous work fighting to end the Trump administration’s Muslim ban, pass comprehensive immigration reform, and reform our high-skilled immigration system,” he said.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi said he looks forward to continuing this work and to improving our immigration system for American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) immigrants and all other immigrants who wish to call the US home.
Born into a Tamil-speaking family in New Delhi, his family moved to Buffalo, New York when he was three months old.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi attended Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He also attended Harvard Law School.
In November, all the four Indian-American Democratic lawmakers — Dr. Ami Bera, Ms. Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Mr. Krishnamoorthi — were re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives is the Lower House of the U.S. Congress, with the Senate being the Upper House.
