Slain Indian techie’s widow almost got deported
Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian IT engineer Srinivasa Kuchibhotla who was killed in a case of alleged hate crime in Kansas earlier this year, had faced deportation from the United States till her local congressman helped her extend her stay.
“We are not going to deport the widow of the victim of a hate crime,” Kevin Yoder, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Kansas, told The Kansas City Star last week. He worked to extend her work visa for a year.
Yoder told the publication he was “apoplectic” after he heard Dumala could lose permission to stay and began working to help after she returned from India following her husband’s funeral.
Dumala works at a marketing agency.
Kuchibhotla was allegedly killed by Adam Purinton, 51, at a bar in Olathe, Kansas, in February.
He had gone there after work with a friend and colleague from Garmin, a GPS major. The assailant mistook them for West Asians and shouted “get out of my country” before he opened fire.
The killing caused international outrage and was linked to a sudden spurt in hate crimes against African Americans, Muslims and Jewish people following the election of President Donald Trump.
Dumala has lived in the US for a long time, since enrolling in college 10 years ago.
She married Kuchibhotla in 2012 and applied for permanent residency (a green card) on Kuchibhotla’s H-1B visa, which is issued to highly skilled foreign workers.
It wasn’t clear how close they were to getting theirs as the wait for Indians in the queue for green cards is usually more than 10 years.
In Dumala’s case, however, she may have to start all over again. She wrote in a letter to The Star, “On the fateful night of Feb. 22, I not only lost my husband but also my immigration status … I’m very fortunate that many people came to my rescue to get me back on a temporary status ... and are continuing to work on a permanent fix.”