Judge Greenlights Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown as GOP Base Grows Increasingly Hostile to Indians

A federal judge says President Trump can legally go ahead with a harsh crackdown on the issuance of H-1B visas, which are primarily used to bring highly skilled employees to the United States, most often in the tech sector.The new restrictions on the visas — the vast majority of which are issued for employees from Asia, especially India — comes amid a spike in anti-Indian racism within the broader conservative community. Earlier this year, headlines pointed to large numbers of American employees being laid off by firms that were applying for H-1B visas on behalf of potential employees abroad. Prominent commentators and influential online accounts reacted with outrage.The Trump administration, which is uniquely sensitive to trends on social media, soon afterward announced that in future employers seeking to sponsor H-1B visas would have to pay a non-refundable $100,000 application fee for each visa. Even before the announcement, Vice President JD Vance, a veteran of Silicon Valley, joined in criticizing the abuse of the H-1B visas. “That displacement and that math worries me a bit,” Mr. Vance said after a tech company laid off thousands of American employees only to turn around and search for foreign talent.“We want the very best and the brightest to make America their home. We want them to build great companies and so forth. However, I don’t want companies to lay off 9,000 American workers and then claim, ‘We can’t find workers here in America.’ That’s a bulls–t story.”The U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenged the $100,000 fee in a federal lawsuit, arguing that the president had exceeded his authority. The chamber said the visa program should be protected given its importance to the medical, tech, and academic industries, among others.District Judge Beryl Howell, however, ruled Tuesday that it was within Mr. Trump’s power to impose the fee. “[T]he Proclamation was issued pursuant to such an express statutory grant of authority to the President,” the judge wrote, citing Congress’s decision to grant broad discretion to the executive branch on immigration issues, particularly visa issuances. Mr. Trump’s victory in court comes amid a broader conversation about legal immigration to the United States — a conversation which has grown ugly and racist, especially as it relates to Indian visa holders. Despite the fees for the H-1B visas, Mr. Trump has long defended the importation of highly skilled individuals from across the globe. He famously said during the 2024 campaign that he would want a green card stapled to the diploma of every foreign student who studies and seeks to work in America. In recent months, it has become clear that his defense of legal immigration for the purposes of economic growth is one of the few areas where the new conservative coalition has splintered. One of the victims of racist attacks from the right is Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire and a Republican candidate for governor of Ohio. In a New York Times opinion piece last week, he argued that the racist attacks he has been suffering must not become a broader trend within his party. “Older Republicans who may doubt the rising prevalence of the blood-and-soil view should think again,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote in reference to the notion that individuals with deep ancestral roots in the country are more American than others.“My social media feeds are littered with hundreds of slurs, most from accounts that I don’t recognize, about ‘pajeets’ and ‘street shitters’ and calls to deport me ‘back to India’ (I was born and raised in Cincinnati and have never resided outside the U.S.).”His essay was an explicit call for the conservative movement to reject the “Groypers” — a far-right, arguably fascist cohort rooted in the fan base of far-right commentator Nick Fuentes. Mr. Ramaswamy made a similar argument at the annual conference of Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk, which draws thousands of attendees and countless prominent conservatives. The headliner this year was Mr. Vance himself. Mr. Ramaswamy argued from the stage that America must be a “creedal nation” dedicated to ideals and principles rather than a hierarchy of racial groups. He took particular aim at the idea that “Heritage Americans” — those whose ancestors have been in the United States for generations — have a greater stake in the country than others. Mr. Vance declined to fully endorse Mr. Ramaswamy’s argument, saying during his own speech that America’s “creed” is Christianity itself. The vice president’s wife has also been subject to racist attacks because of her Indian heritage, primarily from Mr. Fuentes, who has called the second lady a “jeet,” which is a racial slur used to refer to Indians. Mr. Vance attacked Mr. Fuentes in an interview with the online outlet UnHerd over the weekend, telling the far-right provocateur to “eat s–t,” though he also condemned Democrats for embracing affirmative action, which he says is equally detrimental to South Asians. Mr. Fuentes — who has said wants the Democrats to win the Ohio gubernatorial race next year simply to spite Mr. Ramaswamy — responded to Mr. Vance’s “eat s–t” remark with a sarcastic and deeply offensive slur.“For him to extend an invitation like that to me to have dinner — a traditional Indian dinner — with him and his family, it actually moved me,” Mr. Fuentes said with a wide grin during his livestream on Tuesday night.

Judge Greenlights Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown as GOP Base Grows Increasingly Hostile to Indians

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