Source: Allen J. Schaben / Getty
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — There are several people looking to get in on the race for Indiana’s 5th congressional district immediately north of Indianapolis.
Rep. Victoria Spartz had originally said she was planning to step aside from her seat. but, she reneged on that assertion and has since joined the GOP primary field for the seat which features nine candidates.
Among those nine candidates is Raju Chinthala who got into the GOP primary before Spartz reversed course and has stuck with his campaign to represent Hoosiers in Washington. A native of India, Chinthala told All Indiana Politics on Sunday that one of the biggest issues he is passionate about is immigration.
In particular, he wants to do away with the H-1B immigration lottery system that randomly decides who will have their petition for a visa to enter the country legally approved. Under the system, immigrants have to meet certain stipulations that Chinthala said are immoral.
“It’s worse than slaving, that we are bringing these H-1B workers, making them to work and not know where to go or what their future is,” he said. “We want to make (illegal immigrants) pay taxes, and we should be able to train them for what the workforce requires, but we also want them to have quality of life.”
On the abortion debate, Chinthala said the issue is not of whether or not abortion should or should not be illegal, but whether the federal or state governments should have the authority to regulate it.
For him, he said it should be up to the states.
“It’s not a federal issue. The federal constitution has nothing to do with abortion,” Chinthala said. “That’s why we have to separate federal and local. Abortion is not a federal government issue. It is a state government issue.”
Chinthala said he also wants to focus on getting people jobs and getting them educated to fill those jobs. He said those two things are what will help Americans struggling with mental health issues as well.
