Days after federal immigration enforcement officers shot dead a 37-year-old American woman in Minneapolis, India on Friday said that it is concerned at the developments as there is a large Indian community in Minneapolis.
Responding to questions on the Minneapolis shooting, the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are closely following the developments. We are concerned as we have a large Indian community in the US, including students, professionals and others.”
Tensions have escalated with protests over the death of 37-year-old Renee Good while the investigation is still underway. Good was shot and killed by an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer on Wednesday while she tried to drive away on a snowy residential street as officers were carrying out an operation related to the US administration’s immigration crackdown.
Video footage of the death has raised questions about whether the shooting was in self-defence, and the FBI is investigating the deadly use of force. Some protesters are demanding that the officer face criminal charges, and Minnesota authorities also want to investigate.
The US is one of the most favoured destinations of Indian students for higher education. In 2023-24, there were about 3,31,600 Indian students in the US, mostly in graduate (masters) programmes in STEM fields. About 5.4 million Indian Americans/Indian origin people (as per MEA data; includes 2.07 million NRIs) reside in the US.
