indica News Bureau-
Indian American US Senator and US presidential candidate in the 2020 election, Kamala Harris, has been endorsed by the Indian American IMPACT Fund.
The IMPACT Fund is a national organization which upholds the United States’ ideals and promises of representative democracy with a focus on Indian Americans to run, win, and lead.
The endorsement was announced through a press note: “The Board of Directors votes to endorse based on her distinguished track record and commitment to fighting for the values of the Indian American community.”
Harris, a Democrat stated, “This endorsement and the support of the Indian American IMPACT Fund and its members means so much to me.”
“Together, we will fight for an America that restores the values of truth and justice and works for working people, from raising incomes to expanding health care,” Harris said through a press note.
Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris, who will be 54 this January, launched, the “For The People” campaign from her home town of Oakland, CA. Over 20,000 people attended.
A lifelong public safety and civil rights leader, Senator Harris previously served as District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, before being elected by voters of the most populous state in the nation, California, to the U.S. Senate in 2016. If elected President of the United States, Harris will be the first woman, the first Indian American, the first Asian American, and the first African American woman to hold that post.
Raj Goyle, co-founder of IMPACT and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives said, “In the coming months, we look forward to mobilizing our network of resources to ensure Senator Harris secures the Democratic nomination and is elected the next President of the United States of America.”
He continued, “In such a critically important election, one that will shape policy and politics for generations to come, Indian Americans can’t afford to stay on the sidelines. That’s why the IMPACT Fund is proud to be the first Indian American or Asian American political organization to endorse Senator Harris.”
“The Indian American IMPACT Fund is proud to endorse Senator Kamala Harris. She is a tested leader who has demonstrated, throughout her career, a strong commitment to our community’s progressive and pluralistic values,” said Aruna Miller, Executive Director of IMPACT.
In 2018 over 100 Indian Americans ran for office in 29 states; the IMPACT Fund endorsed 27 of these candidates, 44 percent of whom won their races in November.
Harris has become a top contender after Senator Bernie Sanders to raise $12million, according to the campaign finance filings for the first quarter. Senator Sanders raised $18 million.
According to Harris’s campaign, a total of 218,000 people donated her campaign in the first quarter of 2019 by the April 15 deadline.
Harris, a first-time senator, also introduced a bill in February 2019 along with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) entitled the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, a bill that would remove per-country caps for employment-based green cards.
In her statement, Harris said: “Ours is a nation of immigrants, and our strength has always come from our diversity and our unity.”
“We must do more to eliminate discriminatorily backlogs and facilitate family unity so that high-skilled immigrants are not vulnerable to exploitation and can stay in the U.S. and continue to contribute to the economy.”
