Indian legal immigrants in the US: Are they an asset or liability for the American people? Let’s start with this very basic data about the Indian-American diaspora in the US: They make up just 1.5 per cent of the country’s population but still pay 5- 6 percent of all income taxes in the US. It translates to a massive $300 billion every year. The same tax that is then used by the American government to pay for services that is available to all American nationals. In this regard, you can say Indians are definitely an asset for the US.
But still there is a section of MAGA or Make America Great Again base that wants a blanket ban on even legal immigration. At the centre of this debate is H1B visa regime. It is used by US companies to tap top talent from nations like India and China. Tech bros like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are in favour of keeping H1B in place but with some reforms. H1B is not perfect and in some cases, it allows companies to replace American workers with cheap labour from abroad. But in some cases, you may require best talents from overseas too.
This is where the debate becomes ugly. While some MAGA loyalists say we can source best talent from within America, Musk says sometimes there’s a lack of supply of top talent in domestic market.
But the debate became uglier when the discourse was taken over by racists like Laura Loomer. She starting with condemning the appointment of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-origin venture capitalist and Musk ally, as artificial intelligence policy advisor to the Trump White House. Loomer termed Indian professionals as “third-world invaders from India.” Then she wrote. “Why are people in India still shitting in the water they bathe and drink from?”
This foul-mouthed extremist with these posts proved she is least bothered about addressing the elephant in the room—which is illegal immigration, and just wants to stir controversy over H1B to get more attention. A cheap troll, is what Laura Loomer is!
On the issue of H1B, Musk is way more qualified to speak and express his opinion than a cheap troll, given Musk’s vast experience in building companies and tapping the best talent from the US as well as abroad. Laura Loomer at this point of time is doing her best to drive a wedge among MAGA supporters, which is going to benefit none but the Democrats.
Laura Loomer was then shown her place by Trump himself when he backed Musk’s H1B stance while talking to NY Post.
“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said.
It must be noted that Musk himself used this H1B regime to come to the US. Musk in one of his posts wrote, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”
Some people also argue that these foreign nationals thrive at the expense of opportunities for local Americans. But the fact of the matter is that these people from abroad create employment by making billion-dollar companies. The wealth that can be generated in the US is not capped, is not limited. There’s a massive room for growth, and it can be inclusive. We must say not to DEI initiatives but at the same time, we should not make American an exclusively White nation and disregard top global talent.
