Amidst the increasing debate over the H1B visa regime in the US, the American far-right internet has gone on an anti-India and racist post spree. The storm was triggered by the appointment of Indian-American businessman Sriram Krishnan as a White House senior policy advisor. Some of the US conservative extremists severely criticised the decision, citing Krishnan’s support for legal immigration from India.
One user, The Chad Reinhard, termed Krishnan’s appointment as a “disgrace”, saying, the Indian techie “wants to end H1B country caps and flood the US with Indian H1B workers.”
“Nothing America first about this scu*bag. Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen and David Sacks pushed for him to be appointed,” the user wrote. He also added that Musk, the billionaire who has emerged as top ally of President-elect Donald Trump, is an “enemy” of the America First idea.
Project for Immigration Reform, a nonprofit, also accused Krishnan of only “helping serve India.”
Anti-India post storm
But the discourse of the discussion soon drifted to overall legal immigration from India, inviting racial slurs, and insensitive, racist and outrageous comments from the supporters of Donald Trump.
Laura Loomer, an American extremist, wrote on X, “Our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third-world invaders from India.” Loomer then posted a picture of a messy riverside in India, showing people taking a holy dip in river with garbage overflowing around. “PS: why are people in India still shitting in the water they bathe and drink from?” she wrote in the caption.
Also read: Who is Sriram Krishnan, Chennai-born techie tapped by Trump for top AI adviser role?
Loomer was responding to a post made by a user Sidharth who passionately defended the importance of high-skilled immigration to the US. Sidharth earlier wrote to Loomer on X, “Sorry, your racist a** got kicked out by Trump,” citing how the extremist was not offered any role in the new administration. Many users in reply section responded by condemning Loomer’s use of the term “cheap labour” and accusing her of promoting xenophobic rhetoric.
Another user, Josiah Lippincott, who wrote ‘Trump Supporter’ in his bio, wrote, “The average Indian man is physically weaker than the average White woman. You’re not on top of anything.”
Musk wades in
But Elon Musk himself waded into the whole H1B debate soon after and criticised posts targeting Sriram. Musk wrote, “The ‘fixed pie’ fallacy is at the heart of much wrong-headed economic thinking. There is essentially infinite potential for job and company creation. Think of all the things that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago!”
(With inputs from agencies)
