Madhav Rao Pasumarti, a native of Missouri, is employed in IT as a product process manager on an H-1B visa. He has seen himself and others with his immigration status being referred to as cheap laborers and invaders during the past few weeks.
It’s upsetting and confusing, he said, adding that those with visas like him have a lot at stake and want to contribute.
People like Pasumarti, 49, who have an H-1B, a temporary visa for highly talented professionals, say they are uncertain about their future as the matter is still up for debate.
“To be honest with you, it is confusing,” Pasumarti said, highlighting the contradiction with other recent rhetoric that emphasizes welcoming immigrants with specialized talents.
In the days after Christmas, a heated argument between several groups of MAGA supporters broke out on social media after some of President-elect Donald Trump’s advisors publicly endorsed legal, highly skilled immigration. It began when Trump appointed Sriram Krishnan, a venture capitalist, to an advising position on artificial intelligence. Following his previous remarks in favor of green cards for qualified workers, individuals on the far right attacked Krishnan with a flurry of bigotry and xenophobia.
Trump claimed to be in favor of H-1B visas during the dispute. He has previously said things like, “We shouldn’t have it,” in reference to the program. Extremely detrimental to employees.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump appointed to head a new Department of Government Efficiency, both offered their opinions. In a post on X on the influx of foreign tech workers, Ramaswamy stated, “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”
In his own essay, Musk said that there are simply too few extremely brilliant and driven engineers in the United States.
Far-right activists Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer were among the well-known figures who voiced their opposition to these remarks. Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, also stated that the IT sector needs to invest in our American workforce because it was being lazy.
Indians make up around 75% of all H-1B petitioners, surpassing the next largest group, Chinese workers, who make up less than 12%. Racist posts about Indians invading the U.S. were made on social media by a segment calling for the termination of the H-1B visa program.
A request for comment from NBC News was not answered by Trump’s transition staff.
According to Amherst College professor of American studies Pawan Dhingra, people with H-1B visas have always been anxious about their status. The visa itself is somewhat ingrained with the precarity of their occupations. It seems more intense now, in my opinion.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and other legislators have voiced their opinions, stating that Musk is mistaken and that the H-1B program requires revision.
He claimed that the primary goal of the H-1B visa program is to replace well-paying American positions with low-wage indentured servants from overseas, not to hire the best and the brightest. The billionaires profit more when they hire labor at lower costs.
Employers request visas for a variety of positions that only require an associate degree, such as operations, while the H-1B visa requires applicants to work in jobs that require a bachelor’s degree.
According to Pasumarti, the general portrayal is demeaning.
“That hurts a lot,” he remarked. Actually, those are really alarming words.
The federal government cannot alter visa caps, but it may slow down and complicate the application process, as Trump tried to do during his first term, according to immigration experts.
According to Gaurav Khanna, an associate professor of economics and an immigration scholar at the University of California, San Diego, they do have the authority to severely audit businesses and make life extremely tough for those hiring H-1B workers. The tech industry depends largely on H-1B employees. The tech sector will be angry if that supply is cut off.
Workers like Pasumarti feel there is a lot at risk as they observe the two opposing factions within Trump’s movement. He expressed concern for his daughter, who has a condition that prevents her from traveling or attending college. Due to Pasumarti’s petition, she will not be eligible for a green card when she turns 21.
She is not eligible for a student visa or a future H-1B, he noted. “To protect my child’s status over here, I’m going through a different pain,” he added. I’m needed by her. She’s not even allowed to leave the United States.
Many on the right may already feel more confident in their anti-Indian sentiments, but it’s unclear how much attention this issue receives, Dhingra added.
According to him, they will have greater freedom to express these ideas that portray Indian Americans as the adversary and the outsider.
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