A Republican lawmaker has praised the contributions of Indian Americans, who he said pay 6 per cent of taxes despite being 1 per cent of the population, as a model community who “represent some of the best citizens we have in America”.

“They pay about 6 per cent of the taxes and (are) amongst the top producers”, Rep Rich McCormick, from Georgia, said of  Indians who number 4.5 million, making up 1.4 per cent of the total US population of 333 million.

Indians have the highest income among ethnic groups with a median household income of $119,000. They also have the highest education levels with 43 per cent having post-graduate education, according to Pew Research organisation.

McCormick represents a constituency that encompasses the suburbs of Atlanta, an area that has seen an influx of Indians in recent years, fuelled in part by the growth of the science and technology sectors. Indians who number 137,000 in the Atlanta area of his state of Georgia, “do not cause problems and follow laws”, he said.

McCormick, who is a doctor specialising in emergency medicine, said that they “don't have the problems other people have when they come to the emergency room for overdoses, because these are the most productive and family-centered”.

With the long wait for permanent resident status for Indians, and legislation to make more green cards available for them dying in the last Congress session, he said the US must “make sure we streamline the immigration process”, 

The legislation, which had the backing of members of both parties and President Joe Biden’s administration, would have eliminated the limit of 20,000 green cards for each country with some exceptions. It is expected to come up again in the current session.

There are 369,000 Indians waiting for Green Cards based on their employment out of a total of 700,000 including family members.

According to the State Department, only green card applications based on employment made for most Indians have been cleared till October 2011.

The Cato Institute warned that the wait could extend to 90 years for Indians as more Indians, especially those on temporary work visas, join the pipeline