Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar, a Democrat from Michigan, became the target of MAGA extremists over the weekend after expressing his support for the H-1B visa program and advocating for increased legal immigration to the United States. The vitriol directed at Thanedar, who was born in Karnataka, India, escalated to racist and xenophobic comments, including suggestions that he “go back to India.”
Comments like “Can I buy you a ticket to Mumbai? One way, of course,” and “You need to be denaturalized and deported” filled social media in response to Thanedar’s call for streamlining the H-1B visa process to maintain America’s global edge in innovation. One commenter remarked, “Go back to your own country and be innovative there,” in a display of extreme nativist rhetoric.
As a member of Congress, I’ve pledged to work across the aisle.
Unfortunately, the H1-B visa discourse has been hijacked by MAGA racism and xenophobia.
Attracting legal, talented immigrants to the United States benefits everyone, and the system must be streamlined and reformed.
— Congressman Shri Thanedar (@RepShriThanedar) December 27, 2024
The H-1B program, which provides temporary visas to highly skilled foreign workers, has long been a flashpoint for debate in the United States. Indians, who receive the majority of H-1B visas, have become a specific target for MAGA hardliners. These critics claim the program enables corporations to undercut American wages and replace domestic workers with foreign labor, despite safeguards preventing such misuse.
Critics questioned the overwhelming percentage of H-1B visas allocated to Indians. One comment read, “Will you adjust how 73% of H-1Bs have historically gone to Indians and 13% to Chinese, while 0.3% have gone to European groups like Germans?” Critics often ignore factors such as India’s large population, English proficiency, and the established pipeline of students attending U.S. universities.
As an immigrant myself, the H1-B issue is close to my heart.
By increasing H1-B visas and streamlining the H1-B and greencard process, America maintains our edge on innovation & discovery.
Reform of legal, skill-based immigration creates economic growth and more American jobs.
— Congressman Shri Thanedar (@RepShriThanedar) December 28, 2024
The controversy was further inflamed by remarks from Republican candidate and Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy, who blamed a cultural lack of academic rigor in America for the nation’s inability to compete globally. Ramaswamy stated, “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math Olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”
While Ramaswamy’s remarks were intended to highlight systemic issues, MAGA extremists perceived them as an attack on white Americans. Critics lashed out, with one saying, “The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1Bs. Then why did everyone want to come here?”
Some MAGA critics went further, making disparaging comments about India, such as, “What percentage of Indian households have flushable toilets? I find it absolutely hilarious that anyone from a caste system would denigrate American culture.”
The backlash also highlighted the precarious position of Indian-American Republicans, with conservative commentator Ann Coulter once telling Ramaswamy, “I agreed with many things you said…but I would not have voted for you because you’re an Indian.”
Despite growing restrictions and labor compliance requirements for the H-1B program, MAGA hardliners insist that it is being abused by corporations and Indian tech firms. They argue that the program undermines American workers, though proponents like Thanedar believe it bolsters innovation and addresses labor shortages.
This incident underscores the tensions surrounding immigration in the U.S., with Indian-Americans and other minorities often caught in the crossfire of political and cultural debates.
