Over 12.5 percent of all immigrants to America in 2000 were people who arrived from countries other than those of their birth. American statistics show that secondary migrants are usually highly skilled and educated and have an economic advantage on migrating to America. Second time migrants of Indian descent usually find greater commonality among themselves whether they have migrated from Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji or Guyana. Second time migrants tend to visit the same temples and associate in like-minded groups because of their similar growing up experiences in overseas Indian cultures in countries as far apart as Fiji and Trinidad. Many of them feel at a disadvantage at gatherings dominated with recent migrants from India who tend to look down on them for their seemingly old-fashioned style of speaking Hindi and outdated rituals.

According to estimates, about one third of Indian immigrants in the United States arrived after 2000 and more than half the Indian immigrants live in five states - in California, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Illinois. More than one fourth of the India-born immigrants (27.4 percent) work in IT-related occupations while another 20 percent work in management, business and finance. Another study by the Migration Policy Institute based on data from the US Department of Defence has shown that South Asians immigrants have also joined the American defence forces. Out of the 65,000 immigrants on active duty, there are several immigrants from South Asia serving in the American defence forces, with the majority serving in the navy. According to an executive order of July 2002, foreign born immigrants are eligible for expedited American citizenship. There are 390 foreign born personnel from India in the defence forces, 125 from Pakistan, 69 from Bangladesh, 49 from Nepal and 27 from Afghanistan.

There is another group of Indian immigrants - American immigration statistics show Indians as the fastest growing group of unauthorised immigrants during the period 2000-2006. Indian unauthorised immigrants had more than doubled in six years, going up from a figure of 120,000 in 2000 to 270,000 in 2006. However, immigration lawyers contend that unlike the Mexicans who walk across the border, the majority of these unauthorised Indian immigrants had entered the country on legal entry documents.