The Donald Trump administration is set to tighten the rules for granting H-1B visas, which is likely to imperil the careers of several Indian IT professionals.

Indians are the largest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa programme.

On August 26, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick posted on X that the current H-1B visa system was a “scam” that let foreign workers usurp US jobs. “Hiring American workers should be the priority of all great American businesses. Now is the time to hire American,” he wrote.

“I am involved in changing the H-1B programme. We are going to change that programme because that is terrible. We are going to change the Green Card. An average American makes $75,000 a year and the average Green Card recipient makes $66,000. So we have taken the bottom quartile. Why are we doing that? That is why Donald is going to change it. That is the Gold Card that is coming. That is how we are going to start picking the best people coming to this country,” Lutnick told Fox News.

He was trying to drive home the point that workers coming through the H-1B route were not highly skilled.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has also expressed similar sentiments about
H-1B visas.

“The H-1B system is a total scam. Most of them are from India. Why should we be importing foreign workers when we have our own people to take care of? Putting Americans first should apply to these visa programmes as well,” DeSantis told Fox News on August 27.

Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North America Association for Indian Students which works for the welfare of Indian students in the US, said the US decision to change student and H-1B visa policies had sent ripples of anxiety among Indian students and workers.

Kaushik said a more stringent H-1B visa regime would lead to job losses for Indians.

“So far, nothing has come in black and white. But the tightening of H-1B visa rules would affect Indian workers more than citizens of any other country. This will affect the American industry, too,” Kaushik said.

He said repeated diatribes against immigrants had
created resentment among a section of the US population against Indians.

“We see some hatred among a section of the local population who feel that immigrants have taken away their job opportunities. A lot of Indians have illegally migrated to the US, too. Hence, there are some sentiments against Indians. We have advised Indian students and workers to be careful,” Kaushik said.

He said the recent US action on visas for foreign students was driven by the Republican Party’s agenda to make America as homogenous as possible. “The Republicans always believed that America is for white Americans. But it will deliver a big blow to the US economy as the foreign students contribute $50 billion per year,” he said.

Trump had earlier said that he liked “competent people” to come to the US through the H-1B visa programme.

An Atlanta-based Indian IT worker, who did not wish to be identified, said there was ongoing discussion about increasing the minimum salary for H-1B workers to justify their skills. Currently, the annual wage threshold for awarding an H-1B visa is $60,000. If it is enhanced, Indians looking for entry-level jobs may not qualify for H-1B visas.

“Americans are also upset with Indians for their unprofessional work culture of promoting persons based on caste, regional affinity and religion. Indians who are team leaders in IT firms recruit people belonging to their caste and those who speak their language. They can control Indian workers by forcing them to work late hours and weekends,” he said.

On February 6, minister of state for externals affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that Indians accounted for over 70 per cent of all H-1B visas issued by the US between October 2022 and September 2023.

Trinamool Congress member Nadimul Haque had wanted to know the details of possible H-1B visa restrictions.

“According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, for the period October 2022 to September 2023, Indian nationals received 72.3 per cent of all H-1B visas issued. The government of India is closely engaged with the US administration and other stakeholders on all issues pertaining to the H-1B visa programme through relevant bilateral dialogue mechanisms,” Singh had said.