‘Indians are net contributors to the US’: IFS highlights ‘simple’ takeaway from Trump’s welfare list

The simple takeaway from US President Donald Trump’s list of nations whose immigrants receive welfare and assistance from America is that Indians are net contributors to their economy. The ‘Immigrant Welfare Recipient Rates by Country of Origin’ list includes about 120 nations and territories around the world, whose immigrants in the US receive assistance – a list that does not include India.

Parveen Kaswan, Indian Forest Service, shared a scatter plot graph of ‘Welfare Usage vs Household Income Correlation’ that showed India at the end, beyond France, Germany, United Kingdom, indicating that Indians earn high and take away less welfare assistance.

“​​A scatter plot of US immigrant households from various countries, plotting median income against welfare usage percentage. In simple terms Indians are a net contributor in US. As clear as it gets,” he said.

The chart presented by Trump on Truth Social, show Bangladesh with a 54.8 per cent of immigrant households receiving aid, Pakistan at 40.2 per cent, Nepal at 34.8 per cent, China at 32.9 per cent, and Israel/Palestine at 25.9 per cent. The list also includes Ukraine at 42.7 per cent and Asia (not elsewhere classified) at 38.8 per cent.

No reference to India appears on the list, distinguishing Indian immigrants from those of the other countries mentioned. This omission coincides with recent data highlighting the economic status of Indian-Americans in the US.

According to the Pew Research Centre, Indian Americans make up the second-largest Asian origin population living in the United States, representing approximately 21 per cent of the country’s Asian population.

Data indicates that Indian-Americans have among the highest median household incomes of any major ethnic group in the US. In 2023, the median annual income of Indian-headed households was reported at USD 151,200.

Among all Asian-headed households in the US, the median annual income was USD 105,600, with Indian immigrant household heads earning a higher median of USD 156,000, compared to USD 120,200 for US-born Indian household heads.

The median annual personal earnings of Indian Americans aged 16 and older reached USD 85,300 in 2023, significantly higher than the median for Asians overall, which was USD 52,400, according to Pew data.