By Ritu Jha-
“There is a lot of support for Kamala Harris, even though President Biden did a great job and I will miss him.”
That was Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar, who represents Michigan’s 13th Congressional District.
He told indica, “I was supported by President Biden. He and Kamala Harris have done a wonderful job the last four years. But since President Biden has decided to step down, I now support Kamala Harris.”
Thanedar said the differences between Harris and Donald Trump are stark.
“We present a very clear picture, a contrast between someone who will protect democracy, bring the prices down, and work to close the economic gap against a candidate in Donald Trump, who does not respect democracy, who has said he will be a dictator on day one,” Thanedar said. “Trump has given trillions of dollars of tax cuts to the rich and the powerful. The choice is very clear. And I expect Kamala Harris to be our next president in November.”
Asked about the Republicans campaigning about the influx of undocumented immigrants, Thanedar said that the issue is complex and needs comprehensive immigration reforms.
“We need to stop illegal crossings,” he said. “We need to reform our broken immigration system, create clear paths for visas, green cards and eligibility for asylum, so that we won’t have this chaos at the border. We’ve been asking Republicans to fund the Border Patrol, and they haven’t done that. They haven’t put resources into protecting our border – and we will continue to push for that. But this issue needs a broader solution – a complex, comprehensive immigration reform.”
He said the issue is important to him.
“I will make this my mission because I’m an immigrant,” he said. “I’ve seen how badly broken this immigration system is, and it needs fixing. Right now, we don’t see an appetite to fix it on a comprehensive basis. So I’ve taken small steps to bring in small improvements, and I’ll continue to do that. But in the long run, we need to resolve this issue and bring an immigration system that works for America.”
Harris has never visited India in her term in office. Thanedar says he will work to address that.
“I was recently with Vice President Harris and I have requested her to visit India,” he said. “I will continue to put some pressure on her to visit India. She will be very busy until the November election. But right after the election, I would love to take her to India and invite her to make a special effort because the India-US relationship is very important. I focused a lot on growing it, and Prime Minister Modi and the next President Kamala Harris should continue to build that chemistry and grow that relationship. I will be a catalyst for that. We need to continue to maintain leadership of the world and ensure that democracy prevails. We can’t have dictators like Russian President Vladmir Putin encroaching on sovereign nations. Under President Kamala Harris’s leadership, we would do just that.”
Describing his interactions with Harris, Thanedar said: “I had multiple meetings, I think a half-a-dozen times. The last time I met her, she came to Detroit and I met her at the airport. I went to receive her and then I took her to my district, had her meet some small business owners. But the very first time I think I met her was four or five years ago when she was in Detroit. Then she was running for president. I remember having a great, warm conversation with her. She’s a great person who really cares about labor, unions, and supporting workers and working families. She will be a great leader. She is very passionate about democratic issues, whether it is reproductive freedom, protecting workers’ rights, or addressing the various issues to close the economic gap between the rich and the poor. She was a prosecutor, and we have seen her work in the US Senate. She’s a fighter and a tough lady.”
Replying to accusations that the Democratic Party is going too far left, he said: “That is not true at all. We need to continue to keep our focus on working families. We need to continue to focus on helping people at the bottom of the economic ladder. We need to continue to create economic opportunities for those who have been marginalized in the past and to care for people who are struggling, living paycheck to paycheck. I will never apologize for that. I would never think it’s too much.”