The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
The Honorable Anthony Foxx
Secretary of Transportation
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
The Honorable Penny S. Pritzker
Secretary of Commerce
U.S. Department of Commerce
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Dear Secretaries,
As the President of the Asian Indian Coalition of Chicago, I urge you to support the Open
Skies agreements with the Gulf States and preserve international travel into the United
States from those territories. As a non-profit organization serving the large community of
South Asian immigrants in Chicago, it is imperative that our members continue to have
unrestricted access to and from their native countries.
The Indo American Center of Chicago offers a wide range of services, including adult
literacy, civics education and youth programs, to assist our members with their
integration into our community. While they are proud to be in this country, our members
still take pride in having a connection to their homeland and renegotiating the Open Skies
agreement could threaten that connection.
Our members are afraid that if the Open Skies agreement is renegotiated, they will no
longer be able to afford to return to their native country because they will not have access
to the lower-cost travel options that the Gulf State carriers offer. Conversely, if the
United States restricts travel with Etihad, which is one of the largest carriers from the
United States to the Indian sub-continent, we may not be able to continue to grow our
membership because of the lack of access to the United States.
Since establishing our center in 1990, we have grown to become the oldest South Asian
organization in Chicago. Part of that growth has been due to the affordable choices and
good route connections that the South Asian immigrant population has been able to take
advantage of through the Open Skies agreement.
On behalf of all of our members from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka, and the Maldives, we respectfully ask that you preserve access between our local
communities and our native countries by maintaining the Open Skies agreement.
Sincerely,
Sher M Rajput
President
Asian Indian Coalition Chicago
1506 W Touhy Ave
Chicago, IL 60626
[email protected]
847-409-8024