Tony Singh jokes that he is an accidental politician. Growing up as a military brat with his father in the Indian Navy, Singh was used to packing his bags every few years.
Singh says that Little Elm is his home for the rest of his life.
Singh wanted to serve his new community so he signed up for the eight-week Citizens Government Academy. The sales engineer and his wife volunteered with the police department, the fire department, Citizens on Patrol, and Make 380 Safe. Singh was a commissioner on the town's planning andzoning commission.
He ran for the town council because he thought elected officials should be more proactive and accessible. People should be at the top of your priorities. I'm a volunteer and a politician at the same time.
There is a growing number of Indian-Americans in North Texas. Indian-Americans like Singh have made a mark on the culture of North Texas.
Indians are the largest group in the fastest-growing category. Texas has a large Indian-American population. The Indian-Americans made up 0.9% of the population in Texas in 2010. The number of Indian-Americans in the state almost doubled by 2020.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has 220,000 Indian-Americans. In the last ten years, the Indian-American population grew in both counties. In Dallas County, the percentage of Indian-Americans went from 1.6% to 2.4%. 14,189 more people lived in Fort Worth, Dallas and Plano between 2015 and 2020
Hooda came to Texas in order to find a job. He was transferred from a software engineer to a senior software engineer at the company. Hooda earned a master's degree in computer science from India and a masters degree in business administration from Texas A andM University.
He said that technology fascinated him when he was a child, because it led to more work. Good use of human power is made possible by technology.
Hooda is a large proportion of Indian American science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workers. The computer science and mathematics, management and health care industries are where most of the Indian-American employees work. More than a third of all Asian businesses in the area are owned by them.
According to a report from the Indian American CEO Council and the Institute for Urban Policy Research at the University of Texas Dallas, Indian-Americans are the highest-earning immigrants. Indian-Americans in Dallas-Fort Worth make more money than other groups. According to the Census Bureau, 42% of people make $150,000 or more a year. The majority of Indian-Americans in North Texas have a college degree.
It was difficult for Hooda, his wife and son to adjust to the new life in India. Finding vegetarian food that was easy to find was a challenge. His son was scared to go to school because his teachers wouldn't know him.
He said that they didn't know anyone else besides his manager. Smaller things become larger ones when you don't know anyone.
Hooda attended an Indian Independence Day event. Hooda's family was able to connect with Indians living in North Texas. The group gave them a sense of belonging and a connection to their Indian culture.
I made a few friends from that group. There are more people like me in the area. Hooda said that they were going through the same immigration challenges.
Hooda is working with engineers to prevent fraud on the platform.
Hooda wants to continue working on challenging problems and grow in his career.
In 2012 Juneja moved to the U.S. to start a new life with his family. He and his wife Harleen raised their two kids Rajmeet and Manraj in North Texas and that future has become a reality.
It was a challenge to settle down since I came from India. Juneja said that it was a change in culture for her family and children. The children took some time to get used to the culture and language. They didn't feel settled until a couple of years later.
Texas was initially lonely for Rajmeet and Manraj because they had to leave behind friends and family in India. It took about a year of English as a Second Language classes for them to feel comfortable communicating with their classmates.
Juneja said that they would hang out with friends who were of the same culture and background. It took them a while to get to know their friends who weren't immigrants.
The family found a temple to worship at on Sundays. The India Association of North Texas was headed by Juneja. Juneja said that community involvement made the family feel at home.
Juneja said that they have a large community. The India Association of North Texas has a lot of heavy involvement in cultural activities and educational activities, plus we also deal with the state representatives, the mayor and all to take up the issues of the Indian community. The children are connected with their culture in India.
Rajmeet, a senior at UTD, will earn a computer science and engineering degree in three years. Manraj would like to attend the UT McCombs School of Business as a senior in high school. The 17-year-old wants to become a corporate lawyer.
He said the goal was for his kids to get a better education and more prospects once they grow up. I hope my kids get into good jobs or start their own business and do well in their life. Being in touch with their Indian value system is something we have grown up with.
More than four million Indian-Americans have appeared as a political constituency. There are 1.9 million Indians in the US.
More Indian-Americans are running for office in Texas this year than ever before. Six candidates of South Asian descent were endorsed by Indian American Impact. The judge who became the f irst Asian judge in Fort Bend County is one of the people who are running for re- election. The Euless resident would be the first South Asian to be elected to the Texas Legislature.
There was a time when there were very few Indian-Americans running, but now there are many. In the future, Indian-Americans will be a very big group, which can influence a lot of things in this area.
The full political impact of the Indian-American community may not have been fully realized because of their relatively young status. The median age of the Indian-American population is less than that of other immigrants. The majority arrived in the US after 2000. The fourth highest number of green card holders from India are in Dallas-Fort Worth.
South Asian voters can be registered in places of worship, community centers and neighborhoods in Texas. The 2020 election saw a record turnout. Juneja says the immigration system is the biggest concern for the Indian American community.
I came on an L-1A visa, which is the executive visa, but most of the Indian American community comes on the H-1B visa. Juneja said that a lot of the time their kids stay on H-1B after the age of 21 because they can't find a job. People who have been here for a long time are here. There is an influx of new people every year on an H-1B visa, those who have been here for 10 years and are still struggling to get a permanent status
Singh moved to Texas in 2003 to get his masters degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. The charm of a small town, like the beach on the shores of Lake Lewisville, with all the amenities of a big city, was what drew him to Little Elm.
Singh does regular volunteer work, like helping out at the Little Elm Area Food Bank on the first Saturday of the month, and he also runs a nonprofit called the Little Elm Angels Foundation. He wants more residents to be aware of what's going on in their town.
Singh said that he would be here if he could take care of the people, respond to people on-time, be accessible to people and create value for the town.
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