We were lucky to catch up with Anuj Christian recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anuj, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

On March 2nd, 2024, I completed a campaign I started a year ago and became the first person ever to have protested in all the 50 states.

At the beginning of 2023, I thought something big needs to be done to shed much needed light on discrimination against high-skilled workers based on their country of birth. So, I decided to travel to all the 50 states of the United States to spread awareness on the issue. I started that on March 5th, 2023, with a target to finish it within a year. Also, I decided to record a video of my protest in each state to post it on social media to keep those protests alive as long as there is internet. That way whenever someone finds out about the campaign, they might watch a video from their state if not all 50.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Anuj Christian. I have been living in the United States for around 15 years now. I came to the United States for my masters back in 2009 and have been working as an Engineer for around 14 years. Still, I am not a permanent resident just because of my country of birth, even though my immigration petition was approved many years ago. And I am not alone. There are more than a million high-skilled workers in the United States like me who are in the green card backlog because of their country of birth and going through extreme hardship.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Why did I take on this never-before- done challenge?

There are very few Americans who know that the United States prioritizes even skill-based immigration based on country of birth. Personally, I don’t know any other law which is not only discriminatory towards many but at the same time dangerous for the United States. But since there is very little awareness on the issue, there isn’t pressure on the policy maker to fix this discrimination.

So I am on a mission to spread awareness on this discrimination in order to bring a change. As part of that mission, I protested in all the 50 states and talked to as many people as I can making them aware about discriminatory country caps with a clear message:

Right now, there isn’t a country cap when it comes to student and work visas. The United States doesn’t mind getting all the students and workers they need regardless of where they come from but once they are here, their growth depends on where they are born. Many high-skilled workers don’t qualify for permanent residency just based on their country of birth. Which means they don’t qualify for most of the jobs, they are always tied to their employer, they can’t travel in and out of the country easily and if they lose a job and can’t find the next one in 60 days, they need to leave the country regardless of how long they have been here. Meanwhile, someone with less education, qualification, experience, someone who has never been to the United States gets priority for permanent residency in the same category just based on the country of birth.

This policy is not only unfair and discriminatory but also detrimental to the United States as it restricts employers from hiring based on merit. This can potentially compromise national security and cost lives, given the critical nature of many jobs held by skilled professionals facing these limitations.

All the people I talked to in 50 states agree that these country caps on skill based visas are outrageous and need to go.

Even though my mission to travel to all 50 states within a year is complete, I know the majority of Americans still aren’t aware about the issue. I will continue figuring out creative ways to spread awareness on the issue by organizing different events and by creating content for social media.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Since I am here on a work visa, I couldn’t quit my job and do this. I had to do this while maintaining my full-time day job. Also, I ran the entire campaign from my own money. Those two things made it very challenging to finish this campaign but what kept me going is that I know change requires sacrifice of time, money, and energy. I wanted to lead by example and inspire others to act. Also, I stayed focused on how crucial it is to end this discrimination rather than focus on how hard my journey is.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://removecountrycap.org
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/anujchristian
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@removecountrycap