North Carolina-based Shiva Chalapathi Raju died suddenly on Tuesday. His pregnant wife will now have to go back to India.

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The Indian Green Card backlog community took to social media today rallied behind the family of software engineer Shiva Chalapathi Raju, whose unfortunate death brought to the fore the ugly reality of tens of thousands of high skilled Indian professionals in the United States who are stuck in the Green Card limbo.

Raju died suddenly on October 29, leaving behind his pregnant wife, Bobby Sowjanya. Because the family was in line for Green Card, the husband’s sudden death would mean that Sowjanya is now rendered out of status and would have no choice but to travel back to India.

The community described the plight of another Green Card backlog family on Twitter by using the hashtag #DurbinWidow and #DurbinOrphan.

ALSO READ: Indian national stuck in Green Card limbo forced to return after her husband’s death (October 21, 2019)

Many Indians on social media expressed their outrage at Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s opposition to S.386. or Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act 2019. Many held him directly responsible for the uncertain fate of a number of such families, who are having to reconsider their lives thanks to their long waits to obtain a Green Card in the US.

Many sent out tweets to Durbin asking him to pay heed and not be responsible for the unfortunate fate many Indian families are finding themselves in.

Meanwhile, the Piedmont Area Telugu Association (PATA) has started a GoFundMe page to help the family in crisis right now. The GoFundMe page says, “We (PATA) have started a funeral fundraiser to help cover the cost of his funeral expenses to transport his body to India. His family was not prepared for the high cost of a funeral, and during this difficult time we are reaching out to the community for help.”

“Please consider donating if you can, as any amount will truly help. Please support generously in order to cover the cost of Shiva Chalapathi Raju’s funeral expenses and his immediate family.”

Raju has been working with Oracle as a developer client in High Point, North Carolina. In the past, he had also worked for Wipro and British Petroleum in Michigan and Illinois.

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