How the H-1B Debate Is Driving a Wave of Racism Against South Asians

A debate over the visas’ impact on U.S. workers has been overshadowed by racist rhetoric, with troubling echoes of the great replacement conspiracy theory.

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A commercial street in Frisco, Texas, with an American flag in the foreground and a water tower that says “Frisco” in the background.

In Frisco, Texas, one-third of the population is of Asian heritage.Credit...Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Amy Qin

By Amy Qin

Feb. 16, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET

The floor was open at a regular City Council meeting in Frisco, Texas, and several speakers, riled by a recent viral video over visas for specialized foreign workers, wanted to make their views known. They did not mince words about the program.

The visa, called H-1B, had led to an “Indian takeover” of their city. The program, some said without citing proof, was full of “fraudsters” and “low-quality scammers.”

A few people claimed an even broader racist conspiracy theory, accusing Western elites and corporations of seeking to replace and disempower white Americans.

“We must maintain our Rhodesia,” said someone identifying himself as a college student, referring to the former white-ruled colony that later became Zimbabwe.

During the two-hour open floor this month, some opponents of the visas spoke about more typical concerns like job losses and suppressed wages, while South Asian residents expressed their fears over the rhetoric. And the leaders of Frisco, a rapidly growing suburb north of Dallas, emphasized the value and contributions of its population, one-third of whom are of Asian heritage.

In a statement, Jeff Cheney, the Frisco mayor, described many of the speakers as “outside agitators” who did not represent the majority of residents.

But the meeting displayed how the anger over the visa program has helped ignite racist rhetoric targeting the Indian community, not only in Frisco, but across the country.

Created in 1990, the H-1B program allows up to 85,000 foreign workers to fill specialized roles in the United States every year. In 2023, around three-quarters of the 400,000 or so approved H-1B applications were for workers from India, according to Pew Research Center. That same year, Dallas-Ft. Worth ranked fourth among metropolitan areas for approved H-1B applications. Many of these visa holders work as software programmers and computer engineers.

Rules around the H-1B visa are meant to protect American workers. Companies, for instance, are prohibited from paying H-1B workers less than other workers with similar skills and qualifications. But the effectiveness of these rules is hotly disputed.

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The tech industry says it needs the program because of a dearth of qualified Americans, and health care associations have said the visas help ease physician shortages. Economists have generally found that H-1B visa holders boost American productivity and raise wages even for American workers.

Critics of the program, which include many labor unions, argue that it is ripe for abuse and displaces domestic workers. They point to examples like the 2015 decision to lay off 250 technology workers at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., who were told to train their replacements with H-1B visas. And in 2024, a federal jury found that Cognizant, an information technology outsourcing company that is among the top recipients of H-1B visas, had intentionally discriminated for years against non-Indian employees.

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President Trump holds open his executive order.

President Trump in September signed a proclamation instituting a $100,000 fee for visas given to some highly skilled foreign workers.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

President Trump has fueled the debate with anti-immigrant rhetoric and recent moves, such as an executive order mandating a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications, even as he acknowledged the need for some skilled workers from outside the United States.

The important policy debates about H-1B visas, however, have been increasingly overshadowed by what Asian American advocacy groups say is a surge in hate speech directed at South Asians. Between January 2023 and December 2025, the use of anti-South Asian slurs in online spaces associated with targeted violence rose by 115 percent, according to Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit that tracks discrimination against Asian Americans.

The Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit that tracks online extremism, found a similar uptick against Indians, noting that posts on X featuring anti-Indian slurs, stereotypes or narratives like “deport Indians” garnered 280 million views over about two months last summer.

In recent months, prominent conservatives of Indian heritage like Vivek Ramaswamy and Dinesh D’Souza have also decried a rise in such rhetoric.

“In a career spanning 40 years, I have never encountered this type of rhetoric,” Mr. D’Souza wrote on X. “The Right never used to talk like this. So who on our side has legitimized this type of vile degradation? It’s a question worth thinking about.”

Some of the racist rhetoric echoes the great replacement conspiracy theory, which tries to stoke fear of a future in which white people are no longer the majority in America.

“Whereas the old version of replacement theory accuses Jews of taking over, the thrust of this new version is that now Indian people are taking over,” said Stephanie Chan, director of data and research at Stop AAPI Hate, which works together with Moonshot, a company that tracks extremism online.

In these attacks, Indians are seen as part of both the elite pulling strings and the immigrants replacing white Americans, said Sean Long, a political scientist working on a book about the politics of extremist violence in the United States.

A video posted on X last August recorded shoppers at a Costco in Frisco, claiming that it was “the Indian takeover in full view.”

What stories should be told about Asian American communities?Amy Qin, the Times reporter who wrote this article, wants to hear from Asian American readers: What other stories should The Times be covering? What are the issues that matter most in your community? Share your thoughts | More about Amy Qin

It added, “America’s harsh new reality: The Great Replacement unfolding.”

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Aaron Reitz stands onstage with a microphone. In back are signs that say Turning Point USA.

Aaron Reitz, a Republican candidate in the Texas attorney general race, at an event in Austin last year.Credit...Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman, via Associated Press

The escalation in anti-South Asian hate speech began in 2024 around the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, whose mother was Indian, said Ms. Chan of Stop AAPI Hate.

And it spiked last summer after Mr. Trump’s H-1B executive order and the rise of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor, she said. Nearly 80 percent of the anti-Asian slurs online are now directed at South Asians, Ms. Chan said.

Republicans have also been the targets of this rhetoric. After Vice President JD Vance announced that he and his wife, Usha, were expecting their fourth child, right-wing forums reacted with both congratulatory and racist messages. Some called for the deportation of Ms. Vance, who is of Indian descent, and her “anchor baby” — a trope commonly associated with replacement theory, which claims immigrants have babies in the United States to get citizenship. (Ms. Vance was born in the United States and is an American citizen.)

Mr. Ramaswamy, the Trump supporter and current candidate for governor of Ohio, has been pummeled by one of his primary challengers, Casey Putsch. A political newcomer, Mr. Putsch has called Mr. Ramaswamy an “Indian anchor baby” and a “globalist Trojan horse.” He has described the H-1B program as a “billionaire slave bomb” intended to destroy the job market for young Americans and accused Mr. Ramaswamy, without evidence, of being involved in H-1B fraud.

Mr. Ramaswamy is a critic of the visas, arguing that the program should be replaced with a system that brings in the most highly skilled foreign workers.

Mr. Putsch declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Mr. Putsch is not the only local Republican politician to use such rhetoric. Aaron Reitz, a Republican candidate for Texas attorney general, wrote on X that the state’s counties “may soon be renamed Calcutta, Delhi, & Hyderabad Counties given how bad the invasion of un-assimilated & un-assimilable Indians has become.”

Mr. Reitz, who served last year as the head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy, blamed “globalist corporations” for overlooking “native-born American workers” and facilitating the “H-1B scam for cheap labor.” Mr. Reitz did not respond to a request for comment.

In Palm Bay, Fla., the City Council censured a member, Chandler Langevin, after he accused Indians on social media of coming to the United States to “drain our pockets” and calling for their deportation en masse. Mr. Langevin’s comments were denounced by Republican officials in the state, including Senator Rick Scott, though Gov. Ron DeSantis ignored calls to remove Mr. Langevin from office. Mr. Langevin did not respond to a request for comment.

The rising rhetoric directed at South Asians comes as their profile has risen in America. Indians are now the largest Asian group in the United States among people who identify with one country of origin, though they constitute only about 1.5 percent of the overall population, according to a 2023 census report.

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Devotees during evening prayer at the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple.

The Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Frisco, Texas. The rising rhetoric directed at South Asians comes as their profile rises in America.Credit...Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Among Asians in the United States, Indians are on average the wealthiest and most highly educated. They are often highly politically and civically engaged, which experts say is a result of India’s robust democratic tradition and English proficiency. And they are also increasingly prominent as big tech executives, national political figures and Hollywood stars.

Pawan Dhingra, a professor at Amherst College who studies immigration, noted the parallels with a century ago, when Indian workers came to the West Coast to work on farms and in lumber mills. Like many immigrant groups, they were also accused of being unable or unwilling to assimilate and blamed for taking jobs from white people. National publications warned of a “Hindu invasion.”

That wave of xenophobia led to violence and discrimination. And in 1917, Congress passed the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, one of the most restrictive immigration laws in the nation’s history that blocked immigrants from across much of Asia.

In Frisco, the tensions over H-1B were heightened by a conservative content creator who recently posted a much-watched video in which she made claims about possible H-1B fraud in the area. Shortly afterward, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered a pause on H-1B hiring at public universities and Texas agencies. Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general who is running for senator, announced an investigation into three businesses accused of fraud in the video.

Heather Bunting, 43-year-old Frisco resident, has watched all this unfold with mixed feelings.

Growing up in the area, she has seen the city rapidly grow and appreciates the opportunity to learn about Indian traditions. Last fall, her family attended a neighborhood Diwali event, she said, floating boats with candles on the community pond.

“I was telling my kids, ‘It’s kind of Christian, like we’re trying to spread the light,’” she recalled.

But over the last few years, her husband, who works at a telecommunications company, has seen his older white colleagues leave and more Indian H-1B workers hired. And persistent rumors of restructuring make her increasingly worried about her husband’s job.

She is also worried about her son’s schooling, which has become, she said, more competitive, with Indian families signing up for tutoring and school on Saturdays. Around 45 percent of students at the city’s public schools are Asian, up from 13 percent more than a decade ago.

Despite her concerns, she resisted casting blame on an entire community.

“It’s easy to say ‘let’s blame them,’” Ms. Bunting said. “And that’s not fair.”

Among Frisco’s Indian and Indian American residents, there is fear.

“People are worried about their personal safety,” said Sunitha Cheruvu, a Frisco resident who was born in India and grew up partly in the United States.

At the recent City Council meeting, residents of South Asian descent also lined up to speak.

Any H-1B fraud, they all agreed, should be rooted out.

Many, though, also had a sense of bewilderment. Like so many other legal immigrants, they have suddenly found themselves in a more hostile and unwelcoming environment. They pointed out they had immigrated here legally, followed the rules, contributed to the economy and pitched in to the community.

Several spoke proudly about their Indian and American cultural traditions. They talked about their U.S. military service, their love of the Dallas Cowboys and the joy of biscuits and mashed potatoes. Some of their children, they pointed out, were Eagle Scouts and loved Bollywood and country music.

“Our kids have been here, they consider themselves American,” Ms. Cheruvu said in an interview. “This is their home — this is our home.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5835460&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49674344)

Some of the racist rhetoric echoes the great replacement conspiracy theory, which tries to stoke fear of a future in which white people are no longer the majority in America.

“Whereas the old version of replacement theory accuses Jews of taking over, the thrust of this new version is that now Indian people are taking over,” said Stephanie Chan, director of data and research at Stop AAPI Hate, which works together with Moonshot, a company that tracks extremism online.

In these attacks, Indians are seen as part of both the elite pulling strings and the immigrants replacing white Americans, said Sean Long, a political scientist working on a book about the politics of extremist violence in the United States.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5835460&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49674348)

gtfo

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5835460&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49674359)

WINK WINK

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5835460&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49674364)

calling it “racist” won’t change that fact

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5835460&forum_id=2\u0026show=week#49674369)