By Nishant Arora
San Francisco, Nov 8 (IANS) As the world keenly awaits the results of the US election, the hatred among immigrants for Donald Trump is almost at its zenith and the message is loud and clear: the immigrant population is voting against the Republican candidate across the West and East coasts (minus middle America, which is largely white).
According to a report released by the US Centre for Immigration Studies last week, the foreign-born population stood at 43.3 million in 2015. The think tank, which used the Census Bureau's data for preparing the report, stated that over three million foreigners moved to the country in 2014 and 2015.
"Bernie Sanders would have been our ideal choice, but since we have to choose between Clinton and Trump, we will go with Hillary despite her hawkish attitude towards Iran. Trump is a no choice for us; he is trying to put whites as one united force against the rest of America, which is foolish," Babak Hashemizadeh of Iranian origin, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, told IANS.
According to Andrews, who works for an elite cab service in San Francisco, these are testing times for the country.
"I have never seen such hatred against non-whites -- people who are hard workers and have generated revenues and brought respect for this country. America is an immigrant nation and this is its core identity. This election will decide the fate of our country. God save America if Trump comes to power," Andrews, who gave only one name, told IANS.
Layla who works at the swanky Bix restaurant here -- famous for its American-French cuisine -- did not wish to talk politics. "But I am worried about the future of this country. God knows what may come to us post-November 8 (if Trump wins)," Layla told IANS.
When it comes to Indian Americans, the diaspora now comprises about four million people, representing around 1.25 per cent of the US population (as of 2015).
"Hillary has been a true friend of India for long. The Trump politics of alienating the immigrant population from the Whites will not work in today's scenario when we people contribute so much to this country, both economically and socially. His way is certainly not the right way to make America great again," Pankaj Gupta, who works for a multinational tech company here, told IANS.
The anti-Trump wave among Hispanics, Latinos, African-Americans and South Asians, among other influential immigrant groups, is clearly visible on the ground.
"I am a firm believer in Americans making the right choice. The unpleasant and boorish Trump does not deserve to be in the driver's seat and I believe people will ensure this on November 8," Andrews added.
Let us live for another day to see if the anti-Trump wave gets strong enough to push Hillary to the top post.
(Nishant Arora is in the US at the invitation of Cisco. He can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
