India expels U.S. diplomat as feud deepens

They filed charges in New York and accused Khobragade of sometimes forcing the maid to work 100-hour weeks, even when sick and often without a day off, for pay as little as $1.22 an hour.

Disgusting. Obviously this lady doesn't mind humiliating others, but wants her entire government behind her when she is the "victim".

India has removed extra security barriers at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, demanded contract details for domestic staff employed by American diplomats and even stopped the mission importing duty-free alcohol.

Let the little people be little people.

While I support the cause of worker rights wholeheartedly, this was a supremely stupid move by the US government which did little if anything to advance the plight of domestic worker abuse. Given the recent provocations by China, the US needs to be on good terms with India and this petty little tit-for-tat is counterproductive. From the stories I've heard from a friend who worked in an Indian embassy, the caste system is alive and well, even if not under the same name. Upper-class Indians have no qualms about mistreating those that they feel below them with a haughtiness that would make even an old-money blue blood blush.

That being said, since the US has some 30 million "undocumented" foreign workers floating about the country and being paid under the table (presumably for less that the minimum wage) comprising a huge underclass, we come off as hypocrites for choosing to make an example out of this Indian diplomat. She should have never been arrested as it breaks the commonly accepted protocol for diplomatic immunity. While I think that the Indian government has taken things a few steps too far and resorted to childish retaliations (as they feel snubbed by American high-handedness) that are a bit extreme and numerous, a diplomat shouldn't have had to endure the humiliation of a strip-search for legally (albeit under false pretenses) trying to bring a domestic worker into the country. Are we going to arrest and strip-search ALL of the business owners in the US that now or have ever hired illegals?

A better solution that would have allowed the Indian diplomat to save face and also allow the US to show at least the pretense of upholding the law and standing its ground, would be to have taken the worker into custody and removed her from the employ of the diplomat. In that event, she should be treated as decently and humanely as possible, while being put up at the diplomat's expense in a reasonable accommodation until she received ALL of her promised pay (at the documented rate on the immigration documents), and at that point quietly repatriated to India. During this time, the privilege of hiring domestic workers would not be afforded to said diplomat.

Rather than go about things quietly and cleverly, the US chose to make a stand that wasn't worth it from a diplomatic or geopolitical standpoint. Rather than creating a diplomatic standoff, we could have quietly shown that the abuse would no longer be tolerated, without putting anyone personally on the spot or causing them to lose face. Hopefully, the incident will die down with a bit of time.

how dare india expel an american diplomat? they have not seen the end of this. I'm sure America would never do something so mean and horrible like retaliate. But Richards' statements recently are so not original.

USA has lost much by delaying the face saving action of granting diplomatic immunity and letting the Indian diplomat return to India and in the process attracting reprisals from the Indian government creating an unsavory example for other nations to follow to deal with self-righteous but high handed attitude of the USA government.

The State Department tried to make an example out the Indian diplomat's mistreatment and underpayment of her housemaid through law enforcement route instead of warning her and asking her to return to India. But in view of India's belligerent actions, the USA government had to grant her diplomatic immunity and allow her to return.

While the Indian diplomat was no saint, the US prosecutor's charges were clearly exaggerated and based on poor investigation. The purported $4500 salary for maid was based on DS-160 visa form was in fact diplomat's own salary. The diplomat was paying the maid US$ 540 per month instead of New York minimum wage of $1500, but the maid was entitled to free food and housing in Manhattan. The alleged $1 per hour pay was calculated based on alleged 100 working hours per week instead of the legal 40 hours, but which is quite difficult to establish in case of domestic maid.

The State Department secretly evacuated maid's husband and two children from India to USA with a view of making the maid's case to be a human trafficking case but the indictment was climb-down as trafficking charges were not pressed at all.

The USA government has had to face ignominy of several high profile visits being cancelled or snubbed which will certainly embolden other nations to take similar steps in future instances. The USA diplomat who was expelled was supposed instrumental in secretly evacuating the maid's family out of India and India has thought it reciprocal to expel him in tit for tat action. Things have reached this sorry pass due to unnecessary delays on part of USA government which have allowed the situation to get out of hand and will require greater time to repair.

India needs the USA more than the USA needs India!! So??

Its hard to tell what all the motivations are for such a move. But consider, if the Indian government does not make some sort of show, will people in India riot? Or, could a motive for the show be to take minds off of anger at the Indian government over rape being put in the spotlight and the government's inability to prevent it, and all that means to national pride, etc? Or is it mostly about not appearing weak in the eyes of the people, which is a necessity to maintaining any politician's job?

Will the American side see this as a show? Is it a show? Will it be taken in stride?

USA government granting full diplomatic immunity to the Indian diplomat and allowing her to return to India without prosecution is virtual admission by the US government that it needs India at least as much as India might need USA.