Vance says 'Christian' USA needs to be protected from 'cheaper' foreign workers

The TOI correspondent from Washington: US vice president JD Vance on Sunday infused religion into business and industry in America, arguing that “true Christian politics” must extend beyond social issues to include economic dignity, which he suggested is being undermined by the H-1B visa program.

In closing remarks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025 conference in Phoenix, Vance, a putative contender for the White House in 2028, staked out a reform-oriented position on H-1B, framing restrictions on high-skilled immigration as both a moral and economic imperative.




“We believe it is wrong for companies to bypass American labour just to go for cheaper options in the third world,” Vance said, arguing that “true Christian politics… cannot just be about the protection of the unborn or the promotion of the family…It must be at the heart of our full understanding of government.”

The US veep drew loud applause from the conservative crowd when he asserted, “The only thing that is truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.”



The claim drew fire from many critics who pointed out that there was no mention of the US being a Christian nation in the Constitution, and the country’s founding fathers explicitly believed in the separation of church and state.

“The founders wrote the Constitution, not the Apostles, They added the Bill of Rights, not the Ten Commandments. They created a democracy, not a theocracy,” one commentator shot back on social media.

Vance’s speech underscored how immigration — and the future of the H-1B visa in particular — is shaping up to be a defining issue for Republican politics heading into the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

While his religious framing of US drew flak from critics, he stopped short of calling for the complete elimination of the H-1B program and a blanket ban on immigration as demanded by speakers like Steve Bannon. Instead, he pointed to recent Trump administration actions — including a $100,000 hike in fees for new H-1B applications and enhanced vetting procedures that have caused delays, particularly for Indian applicants — as evidence of a reform agenda aimed at restoring fairness and preventing abuse.

Bannon, speaking earlier in the conference, denounced the H-1B program as a “scam” designed to import cheap labor and drive down American wages. He called for its complete elimination, arguing it replaces middle-class jobs with what he described as “indentured servants” from abroad.

On the other side of the debate, figures aligned with a more tech-friendly, merit-based approach argued for reform rather than abolition. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, referenced repeatedly during the conference and associated with the movement’s so-called DOGE wing, argued that the US must attract the “best and brightest” to compete with China, particularly in artificial intelligence and advanced technology.

Supporters of this view warned that excessive restrictions would push jobs and investment overseas rather than protect American workers, pointing out that global companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta operate in international markets and will move jobs abroad if they cannot hire talent domestically.

Vance’s stance — restrict and reform, but do not end the program — places him between these camps and sets up a sharp contrast with Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who has taken one of the most hard-line positions in national Republican politics, calling for a complete ban on H-1B visas. The divergence between DeSantis’ “end it, don’t mend it” approach and Vance’s reform-focused nationalism highlights a strategic choice facing the party.

With more than 730,000 H-1B holders, a majority from India, currently in the US., many in technology and engineering roles, the issue resonates with younger American voters burdened by student debt and affected by recent layoffs in the tech sector. That was amply reflected at the conference, where the debate over H-1B visas emerged as one of the most contentious issues at the first major Turning Point gathering since the September 2025 killing of founder Charlie Kirk. The meet, led by his widow Erika Kirk, reflected deep divisions within the MAGA movement over immigration, economic nationalism, and the role of global talent in the US economy.