Indian-origin tech entrepreneur says anti-India racism is out of control on social media after his H-1B comment drew flak.
Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa said the anti-India attacks on social media platform X are getting completely out of control after he was targeted for his take on the H-1B program. Wadhwa recently commented on a post on the court calling the Donald Trump administration’s H-1B fee of $100,00 invalid and it dragged him into a major controversy.Senator Lisa Murkowski hailed the court order and said it was very timely, as schools in Alaska are in the middle of hiring season and they often have to rely on H-1Bs. “Many school districts in rural and remote parts of the state rely on the H-1B visa program to bring quality teachers to their communities. In Alaska, this isn’t a partisan issue: the state legislature unanimously passed a resolution last month urging the federal government to waive the fee for educators,” Murkowski said. Wadhwa commented on this, asking why Americans are not interested in teaching jobs in Alaska and then they cry over their jobs being taken by H-1B visa holders. Pointing out the hypocrisy, Wadhwa wrote: “Dear Anti-immigrants constantly crying that foreigners are taking American jobs: Why aren’t you teaching in rural Alaska? Hundreds of positions sit empty. Remote districts are importing teachers from overseas on H-1Bs because you won’t move there. You don’t actually want those jobs; you just don’t want qualified foreigners to have them. Complete hypocrisy.” Wadhwa’s observation was twisted and interpreted as if he was asking Americans to go to teach in Alaska and let Indian H-1B migrants take all Fortune 500 jobs and careers.Wadhwa retorted that he never said those things and he is not even a supporter of the H-1B visa program. He was being targeted only because of his Indian origin while he never really lived in India. “The anti-India attacks are getting completely out of control. For the record: I’ve never lobbied for H-1B visas and I don’t even like the program. I’ve repeatedly said the massive green card backlog it creates amounts to indentured servitude. I’ve also never really lived in India. This is open racism,” Wadhwa said.
Who is Vivek Wadhwa?
Vivek Wadhwa is an Indian-American tech entrepreneur and academic. He is Distinguished Fellow & Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Engineering at Silicon Valley and a Distinguished Fellow at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. Born in India, he graduated from the University of Canberra in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts in Computing Studies, and from New York University in 1986 with an MBA.
