Indian population balloons in DC

WASHINGTON: The once small Indian immigrant population has ballooned over the last decade in the American capital and its suburbs.

Immigrants from India are settling faster than any group except Salvadorans, The Washington Post said on Wednesday.

Many Indians were among the recent wave of high-tech professionals who entered on temporary permits for skilled workers. When their spouses, children and siblings followed, their numbers soared, it said.

Indians have been seeking a bigger voice in politics and business, through groups like the Indian American Leadership Initiative (IALI), which aims to put more Indian Americans into elective office.

Behind the $87,369 median income for Washington area Indian households,hundreds of thousands of South Asians are in US illegally, largely by overstaying tourist or student visas, the Post said citing Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow, a Washington-based advocacy group.