Indian-origin scholar says H-1Bs not taking jobs from Trump supporters: 'Completely different levels of skill'

Indian-origin scholar and author Amitav Acharya busted the MAGA H-1B narrative and said it is a misconception that H-1B visa holders from India are stealing jobs from Trump supporters. Both groups have completely different levels of skill, Acharya said on the NYT podcast 'Interesting Times with Ross Douthat' as he spoke about India as the next global leader in waiting. Acharya said India is winning the standoff between America and China, as India, unlike China, does not want to become a superpower in the same senseas China.

"I have lived in China, actually, much longer in the last 20 years than I have lived in India, and in China, there’s an obsession with being No. 1. They won’t say it, they won’t admit it, but they compete with the United States to overtake the United States. They have all sorts of studies looking at the relative power of nations," Acharya said as he also touched upon the issues of tariff, Russia and Pakistan.

On H-1B abuse and 'ethnic mafias' inside Silicon Valley

On the issue of H-1B visas and the narrative that Indians are stealing jobs in the US, Acharya said that the perception is a real problem as populism is growing in the US. "H-1B visa is partly how American companies recruited them. You have, what? Seventy percent until recently of H-1B visas. This obviously creates a perception. That’s a huge number. And even though they’re all qualified, that number, when it gets into the public domain, people probably did not know about it. Now it’s out in the open. They think: Why should any particular minor ethnic group have a hugely disproportionate share of the visas?"

"So this was partly an expected reaction, especially at a time when populism is growing in the US You have the base. I can tell you that the Indian diaspora that gets H-1 B visas are not taking any jobs from the kind of support base of President Trump. I think these are completely different levels of skill."

"But certainly it creates the perception of one ethnic group benefiting from American largesse at the expense of Americans. And I think that it can be addressed and I think maybe some reform there could be useful. There are other ways for Indians to come in. Not all Indians, initially when they came to the US, came on the H-1B visa. People forget that narrative. Everything focuses on the Silicon Valley H-1B," Acharya said.

"I think the main thing is that the political climate in the US has narrowed populism. There’s an overall anti-immigrant sentiment. A few years ago, during Covid, it was the Chinese. The Chinese brought Covid into the U.S., and now Indians are taking jobs away from Americans. So this is very political."

What does India want from its diaspora?

Money. This was Acharya's one-word answer to Douthat's question. Acharya explained that diaspora is a bog export for India, but India also wants the diaspora to think of Indian interests. "India has facilitated, in some ways, allowing people with Indian connections born in India to go back and live in India. So India definitely wants them," he said.