Opinion | Mo, Diversity, And The Indian Immigrant In The US

If an alien were to gain insights into the immigrant ‘situation' currently playing out in the US, the Netflix show Mo would act as a good gateway. Except, it might lead the alien to believe that there are no Indian immigrants, legal or illegal, in the US.
Mo, the semi-autobiographical comedy created by Palestinian-American comic Mo Amer, along with Egyptian-American Ramy Youssef, traces the life of Mohammad ‘Mo' Najjar, whose family arrived in Houston two decades ago as Palestinian asylum seekers from Kuwait. Through two seasons, the series has captured the hopes, dreams, despair, deceit, dehumanisation, discriminatory cultural practices, etc., that define the immigrant experience. Mo's family is the vehicle through which the heated ongoing debate on immigration in the US is carried to different parts of the world in an airy, easy manner. Quite in contrast with military aircrafts full of deported illegal immigrants.
Where Are The Indians?
Mo grew up in Houston, speaking Arabic, Spanish, and English, and has hustled all his life to take care of his family after his father's death. His struggles are everyone's struggles, only exacerbated by the undocumented status of his family. His social circle is full of other immigrants to the US—Africans, Hispanics, Arabs, and everyone else in between.
But, what about Indians?
It is interesting that despite living in Houston, a city with the largest South Asian population in the US, Mo has managed to steer clear of them in both seasons. Just like Mo has managed to steer clear of October 7, 2023. According to the 2020 census, Houston is home to about 165,000 Indians, the seventh-largest in the US.
On Culture And Divide
After Hispanic and Vietnamese immigrants, Indians account for the single largest immigrant community in Houston. So why does Mo never interact with one? He grew up in Alief, a working-class suburb in southwest Houston, which was the most culturally and ethnically diverse school district in the US in 1996. A news report on Alief in 2006 sums it up succinctly in one sentence: “The district's 47,000 students speak nearly 70 tongues.” Yet, we do not see a single Indian in Mo's immigrant universe.
Could it be owing to the cultural insularity that Indian immigrants are (in)famous for? A Carnegie survey from 2021 found, “Indian Americans—especially members of the first generation—tend to socialise with other Indian Americans. Internally, the social networks of Indian Americans are more homogenous in terms of religion than either Indian region (state) of origin or caste”. Another relevant finding is that “divisions in India are being reproduced within the Indian American community”.
Is it, then, possible that Indian immigrants, primarily Hindus, choose to have minimal consociational engagement with Mo's community? Maybe, therefore, Indians are not even a footnote in Mo's story.
Mo is not entirely blameless, either. Devout Muslims, the Najjars are uncomfortable with the idea of embracing non-Muslims in the family's fold. Religion dictates their worldview as much as their regional identity as “stateless” Palestinians. Yusra, Mo's mother, disapproves of his relationship with Mexican Maria, who wears her Catholicism on her sleeve as a tattoo. When Maria starts a rebound relationship with an Israeli-Jewish guy called Guy, she does so knowing that Mo won't be able to forgive that, thus making it easier for her to move on.
An 'Elite' Immigrant
Or, maybe there's another explanation for the absence of Indian immigrants in this beloved story of the immigrant realities in the US. A 2023 Pew survey shows that the median income of the immigrant Indian households is “greater than the median household income among Asian Americans overall”. So, Mo's tattoo artist friend, who is also doubling as an emergency surgeon suturing his bullet graze, and his codeine dealer, a fellow hustler, is a man of Southeast Asian/Chinese origin. It is the underbelly of the immigrant American society that makes up Mo's universe.
Mo, however, is an ‘elite' immigrant. He realises this when he spends time first in a cartel's and later in a “coyote's” dungeon in Mexico, holding prospective illegals with an American dream. Even though Mo's family is struggling financially, they didn't have to undertake a life-threatening journey to the US. However, many of those currently being deported to India had to. After paying a hefty sum—almost as much as the Rolling Stone figure of $10,000 quoted by Nick, Mo's childhood friend. Yet, upon landing in the US territory, is the shared misery of the mule “dunki” route forgotten in the race to realise the American dream?
As per the World Bank, India received $125 billion in remittances, a much more significant sum than the $71.92 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2023-24. Undocumented immigrants, living and working under deportation fears, send a bigger chunk of their earnings back home. Maybe this is why Indians do not frequent gaming arcades and clubs that Mo and his friends often haunt. And those who can afford doing so prefer to socialise among their own.
Whatever the reasons are, Indians' absence from this saga of immigration is conspicuous and demands a think about the home and the world.
(The author is a Delhi-based author and academic.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
-
Opinion | A Month After Pahalgam, Have We Lost Sight Of Kashmir And Kashmiris?
While we establish a new normal of military deterrence between India and Pakistan, we seem to have forgotten that our most valuable allies have to be the people themselves.
-
NDTV Explains: Donald Trump Went Plane-Shopping, Got A $200 Million "Gift"
A Qatari official told CNN the plane would be a 'gift to the Pentagon', a 'government-to-government transaction' that will then be 'donated' to Trump's presidential library.
-
Blog | Whatever Happened To 'Working From Home'? Why Your Boss Wants You Back In Office
In India, where the tech sector gamely followed Silicon Valley into 'WFH', there is now growing pressure to follow it right back into the office - just like its Silicon Valley big brother.
-
Is Trump Russian Asset 'Krasnov'? Ex-KGB Agent's Explosive Claim Explained
On February 20, 2025, Alnur Mussayev, who claimed to be a KGB officer, made the most fantastic of Facebook posts - that in 1987 Russia recruited a then 40-year-old Donald Trump as an 'intelligence asset'.
-
'Misbehaviour' By Rocket Motor Failed ISRO's EOS-9 Satellite Launch. What Next
On board the rocket was EOS-9, designed to provide continuous and reliable remote sensing data for operational applications across various sectors.
-
Opinion | Trump's Durbar: Back To 'Pax Americana' In The Gulf?
For its sheer optics, Trump's Gulf tour was quite over the top, with his three hydrocarbon-rich hosts going overboard in offering him mega-deals.
-
NDTV Exclusive: Rows Of Body Bags - Gaza Bleeds As Israel Unleashes Gideon's Chariot
Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza has entered its most intense phase yet with the expansion of Operation Gideon's Chariot.
-
Why Moving iPhone Manufacturing From Asia To US Is Not Easy
If Tim Cook complies with Trump's plan, the US President's "little problem" might translate into a big problem
-
Blog | Barbed Wire, AK-47s: When I Almost Saw A 'Most Wanted' Pakistani Terrorist
The man was walking away from me, about 100-150 metres away. I shouted out his name. He stopped, but didn't turn. The muzzles of at least half a dozen AK-47s were pointed at me.