What do Desis think about the H-1B debate?

Over the past few months, the H-1B visa program has emerged as a point of contention within public discourse. Much of this debate focuses on its predominant beneficiaries: South Asians. 

South Asians comprise the vast majority of H-1B visa holders with recent data showing that 72.3 percent of H-1B visas go to Indian-born workers. Individuals from Pakistan and Nepal also participate in the program, though in lesser proportions. 

New Jersey, in particular, hosts a large swath of these beneficiaries. In 2024, the state saw 31,286 H-1B petitions approved, more than any other state except California and Texas. In the Garden State, the top employers leveraging H-1B visas include EY, LTIMindtree, Wipro and others specializing in information technology.

Since its establishment in 1990, the H-1B program has allowed companies such as these to hire foreign-born workers for specialty occupations like computer systems. Supporters of the program say it attracts top talent to the U.S., while critics contend that it displaces American-born workers. 

H-1B visas remain popular despite uncertainty

Currently, the H-1B visa’s future remains in flux. While President Donald Trump and tech-oriented administration officials like Elon Musk have voiced support for the program, more traditional MAGA Republicans have pushed for its termination. 

Despite the political uncertainty, momentum for filing H-1B visa applications has not slowed down in the South Asian community, notes Montclair-based immigration lawyer Rupal Parikh.

In fact, she says a record number of people contacted her offices to discuss registering for the H-1B process this year.

“I haven't seen despondency or despair like ‘Oh, I'm going to worry.’ Applicants are like ‘If I can get in the lottery, that's what I want,’” Parikh told Central Desi.

One reason why community members have been feeling more positively about the H-1B program is a Biden administration rule that went into effect on Jan. 17. According to Parikh, this new policy aims to streamline the H-1B application process by reducing backlogs for visa approvals and renewals.

“One of the rule’s goals is to reduce those backlogs,” she said. “We haven't seen yet how they're going to do that, but there's a lot of congressional push and there's a lot of advocacy going on to help people in the South Asian community. And so I think it's actually a good time for those who have H-1B status.”

Still, Parikh cautions that the current political situation could have major impacts on how the H-1B program progresses. She notes that during Donald Trump’s first term in office, authorities were more likely to send requests for evidence to H-1B visa applicants, which greatly prolonged the application process.

“What we saw under the initial Trump administration was they were really picking apart degrees, salaries, the definition of a specialty occupation,” she said. “What it did is it had a chilling effect, because now the employer and the employee had to do a whole lot of work that they didn't anticipate.”

This time, Parikh hopes recent improvements to the H-1B program are kept by the new administration. Moreover, she says many of her clients are excited at the prospect of Trump administration officials with tech backgrounds pushing for reforms to the visa application process.

H-1B issue divides South Asian conservatives

Many of the conservatives advocating to retain the H-1B program also happen to be South Asian, including Vivek Ramaswamy, former co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Sriram Krishnan, senior White House policy advisor on artificial intelligence. 

Still, among many South Asian conservatives, attitudes toward the H-1B program are considerably mixed. Take, for example, Michael Joseph, a conservative Indian-American student at Rutgers, who opposes most immigration, including the H-1B program. 

“Before we used to have a limited amount of immigration where we would, at least, try to prioritize bringing in the best and brightest. Now it's gotten to the point where we're flooding the country with people, just for cheap labor,” he told Central Desi. “I guess it’s ironic. I'm the child of immigrants, but I'm more of a restrictionist.”

Joseph takes specific issue with some of the rhetoric used to advocate for the H-1B program. He references an X post by Ramaswamy from December 2024 praising immigrant work ethic and diagnosing American culture as “mediocre.”

“I thought that statement he made was pretty despicable,” Joseph said. “If America had a culture of mediocrity, then the entirety of the world would not be trying to come over here.”

Priti Pandya-Patel, chairwoman of the New Jersey Republican Party’s South Asian Coalition, also says she is against H-1B visas, believing Americans should be prioritized for roles before foreign-born workers are recruited.

“The first choice should be here in the U.S., and if they can't find what they're looking for exactly, maybe they have to go elsewhere. But the first choice should be us, our people, our kids, our employee pool,” she said.

Still, as a member of the South Asian community, Pandya-Patel says she has interacted with many individuals on H-1B visas and understands they might bring “unique knowledge” to the table.

H-1B debates fuels anxiety for South Asian community

Ultimately, the discourse surrounding this issue has made an impact within the South Asian community even for individuals who are not currently on an H-1B visa. 

“People who are citizens [are] worried that this was the path to their success, and now others may not have that path,” Parul Khemka, co-chair of the New Jersey Democratic Party’s South Asian American Caucus, told Central Desi.

Khemka says the debate on H-1B visas has generated anxiety within the South Asian community as well as emboldened some individuals to employ inflammatory rhetoric against South Asians.

Conservatives like MAGA activist Laura Loomer have used discussion over H-1B to frame South Asian immigrants as “third world invaders” and perpetuate negative stereotypes about their countries of origin. This type of language has left some South Asian H-1B visa holders feeling insulted and uneasy. 

Khemka notes that while political discussions over H-1B are occurring at a high level, racist sentiments can trickle down and affect everyone.

“All of this has a trickle-down effect. In the absence of trying to curtail all of this, it makes for a very insecure space for a brown person,” she said. “We all saw what happened after 9/11, and right now, people are not shying away from saying those things.”

Astha Lakhankar is a 2024-25 reporting fellow at Central Desi. She is a recent graduate of Rutgers University, where she worked as managing editor of the student-run newspaper, The Daily Targum.

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