Indian Government Hides Flood of H-1B Migrants from U.S. Media

When in India, Indian officials openly say that large-scale Indian migration into the United States is a foundational priority for India.

But when in the United States, India’s officials prefer to hide their priority under media chatter about tariffs on Harley Davidson motorcycles, possible purchases of Lockheed Martin weaponry, and their post-November eagerness to accept the return of a few of the many Indian illegal migrants in the United States.

“People-to-people exchanges constitute the bedrock of our deepening ties with the United States,” Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told India’s Parliament on February 6. “Indeed, more than any other relationship, mobility, and migration have had a key role to play,'” he said as he explained why India’s government was not offended by President Donald Trump’s brusque return of 104 Indian illegal migrants.

But India’s problem is that a growing number of Americans strongly oppose India’s economic strategy of moving millions of Indians into U.S. white-collar and blue-collar workplaces and communities.

The population transfer has so far delivered at least four million Indians via multiple routes. Since 1990, that inflow has forcefully displaced millions of American graduates, transformed the management and staff of many famous tech companies and Fortune 500 names, and crippled U.S. innovation — without any serious pushback from elected politicians.

The growing U.S. opposition is also a problem for U.S. business groups and investors that use those migrants as lower-wage workers, consumers, and renters.

It is also a problem for the U.S. exporters that gain from the huge $100 billion-plus remittances from India’s population in the United States. Those remittances help India pay for a variety of U.S. exports to India, including weapons, energy, and food.

So a central task for India and U.S. business allies in the White House trade talks this week is to keep India’s massive white-collar migration out of the media, out of sight, and out of mind.

One tactic that deputies for Prime Minister Narendra Modi have adopted is to spotlight their minor concessions on the less important issue of blue-collar illegal migrants in the hope that the media will ignore the much higher priority of white-collar Indian migrants, such as H-1B contract workers.

“India has attempted to address tariff concerns through concessions before PM Modi’s visit, whilst minimising discussions about immigration and H-1B visa matters, choosing instead to emphasise broader bilateral objective,” the Times of India reported on February 13. The strategy is needed because “Trump’s core supporters perceive India negatively, viewing it as a source of competition for American jobs through its students and workforce presence in the US,” the Indian newspaper told its Indian readers.

An Indian reporter with the Washington Post also described the strategy in a February 13 article:

New Delhi hopes cooperating on illegal migration will help ensure the coveted H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers, the vast majority of whom are Indian, will be spared from Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Trump has  “India does a great job on the legal immigration side,” said [Mukesh Aghi, president of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum]. “We don’t want the illegal ones messing it up.”

The tactic worked with the Associated Press’s (AP) February 13 coverage, which ignored the core issue of white-collar migration:

Modi and Trump were also set to discuss immigration, and Modi can point to India’s having accepted the return of 104 migrants brought back on a U.S. military plane — the first such flight to the country as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Reuters rushed past the contract worker issue in a February 13 article that focused almost entirely on trade:

Ahead of his White House meeting on Thursday, Modi has readied promises including increased liquefied natural gas, combat vehicle and jet engine purchases, according to Indian government officials who declined to be named.

…

Trump wants more assistance from India on unauthorized immigration. The country is a major source of immigrants to the United States, including a large number in the tech industry on work visas and others in the U.S. illegally.

The strategy also worked with the pro-migration New York Times, whose February 13 article ignored the hot-button issue of white-collar migration:

Mr. Modi has offered concessions on immigration, too, saying he would repatriate Indians deported from the United States, even as it caused an embarrassment for him.

President Trump’s White House is also choosing to ignore the visa worker issue, partly because it threatens to tear a huge hole between its populist voters and its Silicon Valley supporters.

Instead, he and his deputies are focusing on the Indian tariffs that construct U.S. sales to India. The message was pushed by Fox Business News; which ignored immigration as it wrote: “Over the next few days, [Modi] is expected to offer some major concessions in an attempt to move toward what the White House calls a ‘fair bilateral trading relationship.'”

The divide over India’s migrants was noted by USA Today reporter, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, who wrote:

In December, Trump’s appointees to head the Department of Government Efficiency, billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, ignited a political firestorm when they wrote about the need for foreign workers in technical fields. Musk, an immigrant from South Africa, wrote on X that there was a “permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent” and that it was limiting Silicon Valley.

…

A swift backlash from Trump’s MAGA world, many of whom oppose immigration, ensued. Trump was forced to weigh in, saying he was a “believer in H-1B,” having hired some workers under the program for his properties. It was a different stance from his first go around as president, before his recent embrace by tech titans.

Ramaswamy, however, also hid the scale of the H-1B program, which she described as “capped at 65,000 per year.”

In reality, the H-1B program imports roughly 125,000 new contract workers per year and keeps a workforce of roughly 730,000 foreign graduates in the white-collar jobs needed by U.S. professionals. Roughly 500,000 of the H-1B contract workers are Indians. In 2015, President Barack Obama also granted work permits to the workers’ spouses.

However, the H-1B program is just one of many similar programs that keep a non-immigrant population of at least 1.7 million foreign contract workers in a very wide range of white-collar jobs. That estimate includes the growing population of Indian illegal migrants who are now quietly working for low wages in white-collar jobs that would otherwise be held by outspoken, well-paid American professionals.

There are several U.S. groups now trying to rally American professionals against the growing inflow of white-collar migrants. These groups have several sympathizers in the administration — but Trump is tacitly supporting the program, amid a growing wave of white-collar layoffs.

Correspondingly, Indian advocates in the United States denounce criticism of the H-1B program as illegitimate.

Similarly, Indian media outlets are determined to sweep the huge and unpopular H-1B issue under the rug.

India’s white-collar migration is a “minor” issue, said an English language newspaper for Indian visa workers living and working in the D.C. region. “India is no longer a nation that needs to beg for concessions,” said a Feb. 12 article in The Indian Bazaar, which continued:

The Trump administration’s immigration policies are not targeting Indians specifically—they are part of a broad enforcement of U.S. immigration law that applies equally to all nationalities. The Indian media’s portrayal of this as an anti-India move is misleading and counterproductive. Instead of wasting energy on complaints about illegal migrants, India should focus on legal pathways that ensure its best and brightest can contribute meaningfully to U.S.-India economic and strategic cooperation. Modi’s visit should not be about making appeals for leniency on immigration enforcement, but about negotiating high-skilled visa programs that serve the long-term interests of both nations.

Rationally, Indian diplomats are seeking gains for their white-collar migrants amid all of the media chatter about tariffs and illegal migrants.

For example, Jaishankar, the Indian foreign minister, also told parliament that “it is our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement.”

“Our focus should be on a strong crackdown on the illegal migration industry while taking steps to ease visas for legitimate travellers,” he told the parliament, adding:

Moreover, those of our citizens who are inveigled into illegal movement themselves become prey to other crimes. They are trapped into moving and working under inhumane conditions. Members are aware that, unfortunately, there have even been fatalities in the course of such illegal migration.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law attorney, told USA Today, that Modi may ask Trump to increase the number of H-1B visas. “More realistically, Modi could ask President Trump not to slow down H-1B processing or issue more requests for additional evidence or denials,” he said.

Modi is “expected to raise concerns about the H-1B visa program, which is vital for India’s IT professionals working in the US,” according to the Indian news site, FinancialExpress.com, which continued:

“India remains the largest recipient of H-1B visas, and PM Modi will likely advocate for its expansion,” the source quoted above stated …  India’s recent decision to cut tariffs on high-end motorcycles and electric batteries could help smooth over trade tensions.