‘5 million Indians and a million are illegal’: MAGA politician claims there were ‘hardly’ any Indians in US 30 years ago

A local Florida politician’s comments about Indians and Indian immigrants stirred a row in the United States. Chandler Langevin, a conservative politician made comments on X about Indians living in the US. He claimed that over a million Indians in the US are illegal and that they should be deported. In his posts, Langevin claimed: “There are 5 million Indians in the United States and a million of them are illegal. There were hardly any Indians in the United States just 30 years ago. A vast number came just in the past 5 years on temporary H-1b or student visas. This is a foreign ethnic group with zero legal or historic precedent in our country. 5 million deportations is doable.” Langevin describes himself as a conservative, family‑oriented politician. His political alignment has been associated with the MAGA movement, populist and nationalist 'America First' viewpoints, particularly on immigration.In 1990, US Census and demographic research estimates show there were around 870,000 people of Indian origin in the United States, including those identifying by race or ancestry.Since then, the Indian‑origin population in the US has grown a lot. According to the Pew Research Center using US Census Bureau and American Community Survey data, by 2000 there were around 1.8 million Indian Americans.As of 2023, the Indian‑origin population has expanded to an estimated about 5.2 million, making Indian Americans the second‑largest Asian‑origin group in the United States and accounting for roughly 21 per cent of the Asian American population.This rapid growth of the Indian population is primarily due to skilled immigration, education, and family reunification. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened US visas for highly skilled professionals, leading to large numbers of Indian engineers and doctors entering under H‑1B and other work visas. The US also became a major destination for Indian students pursuing higher education, especially in STEM fields. Additionally, family-sponsored immigration allowed settled Indian Americans to bring relatives.