South Asian immigrants enriched America: Vance
REPUBLICAN US vice-presidential nominee Senator J D Vance on Wednesday applauded the role immigrants from South Asia have played for genuinely enriching America, as he lavished praise on his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance.
Vance’s remarks came as he officially accepted the Republican Party’s nomination as vice president candidate in the November 5 presidential poll.
“I am married to the daughter of South Asian immigrants to this country, incredible people, people who genuinely have enriched the country in so many ways,” Vance, 39, said in his acceptance speech on the third day of the 4-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“And of course, I’m biased, because I love my wife, but I believe that it’s true. When I proposed to my wife, we were in law school, and I said, Honey, I come with $120,000 worth of law school debt and a cemetery plot on a mountainside in eastern Kentucky,” he said.
Vance said he met his “beautiful wife” Usha at Yale University. “Tonight I’m joined by my beautiful wife, Usha, an incredible lawyer and a better mom,” he said.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Usha grew up in a San Diego suburb and is a civil litigation attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.
She has clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. She also clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh while he was a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
The Vance couple was married in 2014 in Kentucky and they have three children: sons Ewan and Vivek, and a daughter named Mirabel.
Usha backs Vance
In her address at the Republican National Convention, Usha said Vance would make a great vice president for America.
She also provided an insight into their life, about him accepting her vegetarian diet and his ability to cook Indian food.
A Yale law graduate and a trial lawyer, Usha, 38, who has so far maintained a very low profile, acknowledged that she and her husband come from very different backgrounds — he, a white man from the rust belt, and she the daughter of Indian immigrants.
She said the fact that the pair of them are even together is a testament to the kind of country America is.
“He will make a great Vice President of the United States,” Usha said while introducing her 39-year-old husband.
Introducing Vance, a junior United States senator from Ohio, to their fellow Americans, Usha described the love and affection of her husband.
“When I was asked to introduce my husband, J.D. Vance, to all of you, I was at a loss. It occurred to me that there was only one thing to do: to explain, from the heart, why I love and admire J.D., why I stand here beside him today, and why he will make a great Vice President of the United States,” she said.
“I met J D in law school when he was fresh out of Ohio State, which he attended with the support of the G.I. Bill. He was then, as now, the most interesting person I knew. A working-class guy who had overcome childhood traumas that I could barely fathom to end up at Yale Law School. A tough Marine who had served in Iraq, but whose idea of a good time was playing with puppies,” Usha said.
In her short address, Usha mentioned her background. She said she grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community to parents who emigrated from India.
Usha said J D Vance approached their differences with curiosity and enthusiasm. He wanted to know everything about where I came from, what my life has been like.”
“Although he’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned to cook food for my mother.” (PTI)
