--- title: America First: Donald Trump Immigration Plan Creates Hate description: The Kansas shooting of two Indian men mistaken as Middle Eastern shows that a "merit-based" policy will not stop anti-immigrant hate crimes canonical: https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/ author: Tara Raghuveer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-03T18:49:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:34.503Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How 'America First' Creates Hate og:description: A "merit-based" policy will not stop anti-immigrant hate crimes og:url: https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3fe20216b1c49b/6988bceb2dce01ac7d9ec81a/kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How 'America First' Creates Hate twitter:description: A "merit-based" policy will not stop anti-immigrant hate crimes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3fe20216b1c49b/6988bceb2dce01ac7d9ec81a/kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Hateful Murder of an Indian Immigrant Is What 'America First' Looks Like > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=8da568db-8d59-4830-a02f-b970aa9e9a26&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Sam Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Globally minded knowledge seekers. Readers who turn to journalism to understand the world, with meaningful concentrations among educators, students, media professionals, civic institutions and knowledge workers. ### TIME Inside TIME: key statements * Inside TIME is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Inside TIME is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=8da568db-8d59-4830-a02f-b970aa9e9a26&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=8da568db-8d59-4830-a02f-b970aa9e9a26&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=8da568db-8d59-4830-a02f-b970aa9e9a26&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Kansas Shooting Survivor Speaks From Hospital Bed [Watch (HLS stream): Kansas Shooting Survivor Speaks From Hospital Bed](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2jYTBdxG.m3u8) (1:22)  _Published 2017-02-24. A gunman opened fire in a busy Kansas bar on Wednesday, killing one Indian man and injuring two others in what witnesses say may have been a racially motivated attack._ by [Tara Raghuveer](https://time.com/author/tara-raghuveer/) ## Tara Raghuveer Mar 3, 2017 6:49 PM UTC  Sunayana Dumala, wife of the Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in a Kansas bar, is consoled by family members at his funeral in Hyderabad on Feb. 28, 2017. Sunayana Dumala, wife of the Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in a Kansas bar, is consoled by family members at his funeral in Hyderabad on Feb. 28, 2017. Noah Seelam—AFP/Getty Images by [Tara Raghuveer](https://time.com/author/tara-raghuveer/) ## Tara Raghuveer Mar 3, 2017 6:49 PM UTC I woke up on Thursday, Feb. 23, to a text from my mom: “Be very careful. Avoid conflicts.” She’d sent it to my dad and me, and she linked to an article about a hate crime in Kansas. On the night of Feb. 22, a white man shot two Indian men at a bar in [Olathe](http://time.com/4689825/kansas-bar-shooting-suvivor-released/), just outside Kansas City. According to witnesses, the [shooter](http://time.com/4681450/kansas-gunman-shooting-race-crime/) had mistaken them for Middle Easterners and began shouting slurs until he was kicked out. He returned later with a gun. He killed [Srinivas Kuchibhotla](http://time.com/4682434/kansas-shooting-bar-father-india/) and injured his friend, [Alok Madasani](http://time.com/4683582/kasnas-bar-shooting-alok-madasani/). [Ian Grillot](http://time.com/4689825/kansas-bar-shooting-suvivor-released/), a white man who tried to intervene, was also hospitalized. I’m an Indian immigrant. I grew up in Kansas City. My family moved there in 2001\. I remember talking about 9/11 with my fourth-grade class. We sat cross-legged, in a circle; I was the only brown person in the room. I look back on pictures of the high school cross-country team and notice that my knobby brown knees stand out in a crowd of white runners. Though I was aware of the color of my skin, I can’t recall feeling alienated because of my race. I loved my childhood in Kansas. I had friends, neighbors and teachers who welcomed my family and me. I was lucky. Layers and layers of privilege have shielded my family from the hate that has existed in America since well before Trump’s election. I arrived in this country when I was 3 and have never known another home. My parents are doctors, and they grew up speaking English in Catholic schools in India, so they don’t have thick accents. Maybe because of these factors, we were never the targets of racist attacks. Kuchibhotla’s shooting devastated me. After Kuchibhotla’s widow, [Sunayana Dulama](http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article134841774.html), delivered a tearful tribute last week, I watched the video and wept. The bar where the shooting occurred is just 20 minutes from my childhood home. It’s even closer to my uncle, who shares Kuchibhotla’s first name. It affected people who look like me, who have jobs like my parents’ — in my hometown. Kuchibhotla had been an engineer at Garmin. Dumala said her late husband was passionate about his work and dreamed of innovating in the aviation industry. They were educated in India but planned a long life in Kansas. Together they built their dream home. He painted it and installed the garage door. Kuchibhotla’s death matters. And not only because he was an engineer with a promising future. We must fight our instincts, in moments of tragedy, to render victims exceptional. Kuchibhotla’s death matters because he was a human being with dreams, just as we all are. He deserved dignity, just as cab drivers and migrant farm workers and housekeepers and those still seeking work do. Kuchibhotla’s life, like every immigrant’s life, is more than potential economic contributions. Until his [speech to Congress](http://time.com/4686828/donald-trump-congress-address-reading-level/), Trump spent six days deafeningly silent on Kuchibhotla’s death. He finally said, “While we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.” He did not say Srinivas Kuchibhotla’s name. We cannot afford to be fooled. Trump has already taken measures to construct a wall along our southern border, gut the refugee program, punish Muslim immigrants and travelers, and tear apart families to enforce immigration laws. These “America First” policies do not condemn hate; they authorize it. The truth is, Kuchibhotla and immigrants like him would likely make it into the U.S. under a system like the one Trump described in the speech as “merit-based” and only for immigrants who can “support themselves financially.” But does it matter if, when they arrive, their lives are ended by the hateful America that Trump enables? Hate is blind to nuance. It bears repeating: the shooter allegedly believed Kuchibhotla and Madasani were Middle Eastern. They weren’t, but for someone emboldened by intolerance and wielding a gun, the facts were irrelevant. Similarly, it does not serve us to talk about immigrants like Kuchibhotla as distinct from black and Latino immigrants who are consistently criminalized by an arbitrary and failing justice system. My mom’s text to me was the first of its kind — but black and other brown families have had to warn their kids to “avoid conflict” for centuries. On Tuesday, Kuchibhotla’s widow posted about her husband on Facebook. She concluded with a string of questions, including: “[DO WE BELONG HERE](https://www.facebook.com/sunayana.dumala/posts/1254788961284812)? Is this the same country we dreamed of and is it still secure to raise our families and children here?” Srinivas Kuchibhotla. Say his name. People like him and unlike him — black, brown, immigrants, refugees, Muslims, cab drivers, farm workers, housekeepers, those still finding their way — do belong here. Their lives are worth more than the sum of their taxes. They deserve to be welcomed and protected. We must fight for their humanity. ## Transcript I was hit in the hand and the chest, cuz initially I'd gotten under the table when he first started firing. Thought I heard nine shots, expected his magazine to be empty, so I got up and proceeded to chase him down. Tried to subdue him, so that way the police could Come in and do what they needed to do. And I guess I miscounted with everything going on, and I got behind him and he turned around and fired a round at me. It went through my hand and through my chest here, then over to the left- side of my chest. Barely missed my carotid artery I guess. I'm just very grateful that one of the gentleman is fine and alive. It's terrible what happened to his friend, but I think he was watching over us last night, making sure that we made it through it all right. Cuz I was told I was incredibly lucky. It was an amazing feeling. I've been hearing that all people calling me a hero and [ INAUDIBLE ] it's not like that. I was just doing what anyone should have done for another human being and it's not about where he's from, what's his ethnicity, we're all humans So I just felt I did what was naturally right to do. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/"},"headline":"The Hateful Murder of an Indian Immigrant Is What 'America First' Looks Like","datePublished":"2017-03-03T18:49:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:34.503Z","description":"A \"merit-based\" policy will not stop anti-immigrant hate crimes","url":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/","keywords":["Immigration","policy","Donald Trump","hate crimes","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3fe20216b1c49b/6988bceb2dce01ac7d9ec81a/kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Raghuveer","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-raghuveer/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b3fe20216b1c49b/6988bceb2dce01ac7d9ec81a/kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kansas-shooting-funeral-immigration-india","caption":"Sunayana Dumala, wife of the Indian engineer, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was shot dead in a Kansas bar, is consoled by family members at his funeral in Hyderabad on Feb. 28, 2017.","creditText":"Noah Seelam—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/","name":"The Hateful Murder of an Indian Immigrant Is What 'America First' Looks Like"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kansas Shooting Survivor Speaks From Hospital Bed","description":"A gunman opened fire in a busy Kansas bar on Wednesday, killing one Indian man and injuring two others in what witnesses say may have been a racially motivated attack.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2jYTBdxG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-24T14:28:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2jYTBdxG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/","duration":"PT1M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4690278/murder-indian-immigrant-america-first/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```