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NEW YORK — More than 60 South Asian American state and local elected officials from across the US have endorsed Kamala Harris for the presidency, saying that as the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother, she will create a "fairer and more inclusive" immigration system.
They also said that the US Vice President's victory in the November 5 presidential election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women.
The officials joined the Indian American Impact in endorsing Harris, who is the 2024 Democratic candidate for President of the United States.
"As South Asian elected officials, we proudly support Kamala Harris in her historic bid to become the first South Asian American woman President of the United States,” the officials said in a statement issued by The Indian American Impact Fund, which is dedicated to promoting and elevating voices of Indian and South Asian Americans in the political and civic life of the United States.
"As the daughter of an Indian immigrant mother, Harris will also “create a fairer and more inclusive immigration system," the statement said, referring to Harris’s Chennai-born mother Shyamala Gopalan, a scientist who had moved to the US in the 1950s to pursue higher education.
"As an exceptional coalition builder, Harris possesses an extraordinary ability to unite our nation at a time when the stakes have never been higher,” it said.
The statement added that Harris’s victory in the November 5 election would send a powerful signal to all Asian Americans, communities of colour, and women. “By helping so many reimagine what is possible, a President Kamala Harris would affirm that the American Dream isn’t just an aspiration, but an achievable reality.”
The officials extending their support to Harris include Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Aruna Katragadda Miller, Deputy Majority Leader, Washington State Senate Senator Manka Dhingra, North Carolina Senate Democratic Whip Jay J. Chaudhuri, New Jersey Senate Majority Conference Leader Vin Gopal and Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi.
Other officials on the list are North Carolina State Senator Mujtaba A Mohammed, Georgia State Senator Sheikh Rahman, Vermont State Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval, Michigan State Senator Sam Singh, Virginia State Senator Suhas Subramanyam, New York State Senator Kevin Thomas, Texas State Representative Salman Bhojani, Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, Mayor of Cincinnati Aftab Pureval and City of Berkeley Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani.
The signatories said in the Indian American Impact Fund statement that Harris, alongside President Joe Biden, has championed and enacted policies that have uplifted not only South Asian Americans but all Americans. This includes the strongest legislation in combating climate change ever, fiercely defending voting rights, protecting our children from gun violence, reducing student debt, and lowering prescription drug costs.
“She is the nation’s fiercest champion on abortion rights and makes the strongest case for why women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies,” the statement said.
Since its inception in 2016, the Indian American Impact Fund has endorsed and supported 166 candidates across the country, contributing to the historic rise of Indian and South Asian American representation in politics.