Part 210- America’s Cornerstone: Immigrants

You’ve all probably heard of the uproar regarding H-1B Visas as of recently. What began from a far-right activist, Laura Loomer, critiquing President Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishna as an advisor on AI turned into a broad debate between longtime supporters of President Trump and new supporters in the tech industry, such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, regarding immigrant rhetoric and the reliance on the government’s H-1B visa. A more significant trigger for this nasty debate was Mr. Ramaswamy’s tweet regarding American culture, leading to some rather uncomfortable discussions. But as an Indian American who has experienced what Mr. Ramaswamy has seen and, has Indian immigrant parents, I feel that I should share my opinion on this. 

What are H-1B visas?

H-1B visas are one of the different types of visas foreigners can acquire to enter stay, or leave a country. There’s a tourist visa (B-2), business visa (B-1), work visa (H-1B), student visa (F-1), immigrant visa (Green Card), or a spouse/family visa (K-1), to name a few. Of course, these are the ones listed specifically for the United States, as each country has their own specific eligibility requirements documentation, and processing times. But for today’s topic, as I said, we’re focusing on H-1Bs- the worker visa.

An H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa ¹in the U.S. that allows employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring temporary specialized knowledge. (IT, engineering, finance, and healthcare) The initial duration is typically three years and extended for a maximum of six years. It was introduced in 1990 under the Immigration Act of 1990 and aimed to fill gaps in high-skilled labor markets. With this, Congress has limited 4th number of H-1Bs made available each year. The current annual cap is 65,000 visas per fiscal year, with 20,000 additional visas for foreign professionals who graduate with a master’s degree or doctorate from a U.S. institution of higher learning. However, this hasn’t stopped the growing demand and approved cap from growing and exceeding this limit over the past years. In the 2023 fiscal year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received over 780,000 applications for 85,000 available slots². There’s also an H-1B visa lottery, allowing the USCIS to allocate H-1B visas when the demand exceeds the annual cap. 

With this, we wonder why there has been such a demand for foreign workers. The world is continuously adapting and moving towards a very technological-based society. Especially in the rapidly expanding United States tech industry. Tech companies are having difficulty finding enough domestic talent with expertise in areas, such as software development, AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics, turning to H-1B visa holders. Furthermore, many H-1B applicants are international students earning advanced degrees from U.S. institutions and often bring in a diverse skill set and perspectives that are highly valued in a globalized economy. The majority of H-1B visa recipients are Indians, making up approximately 74.1%³ of all approved H-1B petitions, with China in second comprising about 12.4%. The countries that also make up this demographic are Canadians, South Koreans, and Filipinos. ⁴

The start of the debate

Beginning with Laura Loomer, triggered an anti-Indian backlash on social media when Trump named Sriram Krishna as his advisor on AI policy, saying that it was “…alarming to see the number of career leftists who are now being appointed to serve in Trump’s admin when they share views that are in direct opposition to Trump’s America First agenda,” ⁵while selecting out his past posts and podcasts to characterize him as an India loyalist to increase guest worker visa and green card caps for Indians in a bid to exploit the US at the expense of native-born Americans.⁶ This tweet was followed by several racist attacks and posts on India and Indians, while also directed towards Elon Musk, a South African immigrant. Elon Musk defended Trump’s choice and argued that the United States needs to start attracting the best and the brightest from all over to maintain its global primacy, and further endorsed that skilled immigrants and Indian Americans have contributed significantly to the U.S. economy.⁷ This then leads us to Vivek Ramaswamy’s similar tweet which talks about American culture and the celebrated mediocrity. 

You can see where the outrage began.

The original tweet is linked above, but to summarize, Mr. Ramswamy said that America has a cultural problem that has been ingrained over time, focusing primarily on celebrating ‘mediocrity’ over ‘excellence’ such as Prom King & Queen rather than the valedictorian, and this needs to change by starting now to begin a new American era. 
And this is where I agree.

American Culture: My viewpoint

I’m an Indian American with Indian immigrant parents. I’ve grown up here and experienced and seen American culture firsthand from the same viewpoint Mr. Ramaswamy describes. In  American high schools, invisible hierarchies and categories are between students. It’s the stereotypical jocks and cheerleaders that are praised and hold popularity; and are celebrated, rather than the typical nerds, valedictorians, and Math Olympiad winners. And most of the time, we accept it. I know I have, unknowingly. I’ve recognized and accepted that I wasn’t that popular- or more deeming that those who are popular were some athletes or cheerleaders, and I wouldn’t be that. I didn’t mind. But the more I think about it, it’s silly that we should be popularizing or praising something as simple as that compared to others who have accomplished something more remarkable. Celebrating and making a big deal out of prom king and queen or who was the football team star as the most outstanding achievement, when in reality, they aren’t.

America has become a global power and incredibly renowned for many reasons. The biggest reason is that it was built by immigrants. With the word immigrant, we picture Indians or Asians, or more generally, ‘non-white people’. But if we think back to the 1700s, it was Europeans (white) who immigrated to the Americas in search of a better life. They are technically immigrants, as the very first Americans on this land were Native Americans. From those immigrants, we created colonies, came up with ideas and innovations, created our country’s founding principles and beliefs, and have gotten to where we are today. In the 19th century, when immigration started to become a central problem in the United States, we saw immigrants coming from all countries. This moment in America’s history has served as a monumental turning point, changing American society through urbanization, industrialization, and immigration. Changes in education began with the addition of kindergarten, a concept borrowed from Germany. There was also a rise in higher education, as major universities began to follow the model of German universities, emphasizing free inquiry and research. You see that America succeeded as a global superpower, a nation from World War 2, where its nuclear weapons were developed by immigrant scientists such as Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer.  The Jews contributed to civil rights and labor movements.  Discipline and family values have been upheld by Asians. Fashion, film, art, food, and other parts of our daily lives were influenced by immigrants. They’ve become a founding cornerstone of what makes America so unique. We’ve been called a melting pot nation for this reason. However, in terms of jobs and accepting foreigners to work in ‘American fields’, it’s different. 

Back to culture, let me elaborate more on Mr. Ramaswamy’s post. Immigrant families have taught their children to work hard, no matter what. Asian communities heavily emphasize education. Kids are pushed to excel in every subject, top the classes, be in every extracurricular, or succeed in every championship. There’s a constant push and fuel to do more because of the many opportunities and capabilities possible. As a kid, you are never taught to settle for what you have but always go for more. In a joking manner, the Asian grading scale is A for average, B for below average, C for can’t eat dinner, D for don’t come home, and F for finding a new family. As a kid, and even now, I’ve been pushed to get full marks. When I got lower, even if I got a 98, it was always a ‘What did you lose points in? Go talk to your teacher.” Getting straight As was expected from us. It was the bare minimum. We needed to do more and strive for more. This mindset is what strongly differentiates many Americans from immigrant families.  There were limitations on hours of TV to watch or parties and social gatherings to go. There was always something more significant. This mindset has led there to be more immigrants at the top, to have higher educations, and to be the ones making more money.  They’ve put in the work and understood from the beginning of their lives that they must work hard and that there is no settling for less.  Today, despite reaching the top, they continue to work hard and push because there is still something more.  

The American culture has moved away from this mindset over time. Generations of immigrants who arrived centuries ago rather than a decade ago have started to take these privileged opportunities for granted. Believing they are entitled to such luxuries and the benefits that many others would dream of. And as such, they do little to achieve them. Knowing it’s there for them, they are content at the bare minimum and are so used to being placed at a higher level they can’t stand anything lower. But immigrants who don’t and work hard from the bottom, take anything they can to work hard and rise. Another factor is how they’ve grown up, as I’ve stated many times. It always starts young. When you are young, base on what you’re taught and exposed to will shape who you are in the future. And this is what Vivek Ramaswamy is pointing out. We have to start from the root, with the children, and change the usual norms so we can excel and be a better America. One major thing is the American education system. Or even how schools are funded. My school district faces a budget deficit and projected shortfall of approximately $14.93 million for the fiscal year 2024-2025. As a result, there is a loss of important academic cases and extracurriculars. However, we are starting a new infrastructure development regarding building new home stadiums at my high school and another, to seat about 7,000 spectators,  updating the current main stadium, and upgrading the Fine Arts performing centers. With this, why is so much money going into renovating and building new stadiums, when it could be to support the academic classes and extracurriculars we are losing? This isn’t just in my district but for many other schools across the nation.

Although high school budget allocation can vary across districts, there tends to be a high allocation if budgeting for athletics compared to academic subjects. In some cases, spending per student-athlete can be higher than per academic student, in particular universities, it can be $92,000 per athlete, and for a full-time academic student, less can be $14,000. Academic programs are typically funded from state and federal sources and are generally lower, compared to athletic spending for athletes. Furthermore, when there are budget cuts, a number of programs are reduced- a majority being academic subjects and some sports offerings. Not only that, there are already community and booster support-supplementary funding directed towards athletic programs. With this, there’s an obvious imbalance in how money is being distributed in most schools. And that shows that we’re focusing on the wrong things. Sports, or the frivolities of prom king and queen, are of little significance in the real world. Athletes, no matter how good, won’t always be an athlete later on in life. There will always be a better star athlete who will get into the NFL or the major sports league. Then what? You spent your whole life on sports and giving little interest to academics, and now you’re not the greatest anymore. These people end up being coaches. And yet, even being high end coaches who are excellent at their jobs, they will still be earning less than the lower end of the tech-related fields. And then again, there’s a complaint that someone who is in a low-end tech field makes more than a high-end athletic coach. Well, those are two different fields with two different skill sets and required education levels and experience levels needed. 

And then, coming down to it all, there’s the conflict with the immigrants taking American jobs. Companies are more inclined toward foreign labor because they are more willing to work longer for less and take low-paying and lower-level jobs just because it’s something. They aren’t picky nor feel entitled and are accepting of anything. They’re more highly educated or are going for higher education. These people have master’s and doctorate-level degrees and are coming to work in these high positions. They have a more prominent education level, and experience, and are coming to America where there is so much opportunity and offer where they can apply and even learn more than they ever could in their home countries. Americans complain that immigrants are taking their jobs, and that’s because there is not enough domestic talent or adequate domestic labor that could deliver the same output foreigners are producing today. These Americans, who would have average educations would deliver a different outcome compared to the foreigners who give their all regardless. And that makes a massive difference. If we were to provide the current level of Americans, no foreigners, the positions that foreigners have right now, I can guarantee that there wouldn’t be the same quality to things. It just wouldn’t be the same. Consumers won’t be happy, but we can’t do anything about it because people aren’t willing to go beyond, to supersede laziness to work a little harder to do better. American culture has become too laid back, too accepting of the final luxuries and benefits their immigrant ancestors have worked hard to give them, and for that reason, companies are returning to foreigners who still have that drive. And this is the point that Vivek Ramaswamy has been making. This point; which I am astounded to have found out that Marjorie Taylor Greene has also agreed with this. The point that Elon Musk has made, and what many Americans, including Laura Loomer, are failing and even refusing to recognize and acknowledge. It is the truth. America has always been built from immigrants and is where it is today because we have taken others’ cultures, ideas, beliefs, and perspectives and used that to put ourselves forward to where we are today. The backlash against Indians appointed to these high positions is not an argumentative viewpoint toward the decisions but flat-out racism. Ms. Loomer could have stopped at her initial remark, but going as far as to make racist remarks and comments towards Indian culture and Indians shows that her problem is Indians and not immigration as a whole. 

But really, in all of this, Ms. Loomer may have a point. Apart from her outlandish and inappropriate remarks, of course. There is a lack of so-called ‘availability’ for American jobs that Americans can obtain. However, this is for a different reason. More often than not, when we see the eligible spots for an H-1B, 85,000, that’s the number we keep in mind. However, it feels wrong that such a small number of foreigners can cause such an impact. And that’s true. Because, in reality, there’s a greater number of immigrants getting jobs than we think. Every year there’s another 85,000 workers coming in, so by the time the first ‘group’ has reached date maximum time for their visa, there are already 510,000 foreign workers at the moment. Furthermore, for each of those 85,000 immigrants, a good majority of them would be married. Let’s say 60%. And if these are skilled, high-education immigrants we are hiring as workers, it would be reasonable that they too owed marry someone who would also be of high-education and also a skilled worker. With this, originally while those on a spouse visa could not work, the United States started allowing them to get a job. With this, this makes up about (60% of 510,000) 306,000 additional workers. However, these workers would’ continue to stay on a visa forever. They’d immediately apply for a Green Card. The Green Card process has 4 steps, and when done they can permanently live in that foreign country. So you have those original 510,000 and the additional 306,000 (which can go up to 501,000 as they’d get married at the end) that are still foreigners, but are permanent residents that are getting jobs, as well as the continuous incoming cycle of workers on H-1Bs each year. Not to mention the student visas, business visas, and others that allow foreigners to take up a job or do some work in the country. With this, there is a greater number of foreigners that are getting American jobs than the original 85,000 you would first imagine. This is the feeling that Ms. Loomer is feeling when she talks about immigrants taking American jobs, but the way she described it was anything but.

Conclusion

If we want to make America great again, we need to transform American culture as a whole. The reason why immigrants are getting so-called American jobs is because Americans have become entitled and picky towards what is available, and are willing to settle for less when there is so much opportunity before them. Rather than always chastising and complaining about immigrants, it would be best to learn from them and use what they have learned and grown up doing to implement it into our culture so that we don’t need to rely so much on immigrant labor. This way, we can truly become American sustaining. And yet, the whole argument that we don’t need immigrants or the opposition against immigrants is ridiculous altogether, especially when America has been a country founded by immigrants and has grown because of immigrants. It is what America itself is, and to take that away would lead to rather severe results, and would no longer make it the same. 

Other References used:

1. Musk and Ramaswamy are sparking a debate over the H-1B visa. Here’s what to know about the visa⁸
2. The H-1B visa program and its impact on the U.S. economy. ⁹
3. The H-1B cap lottery, explained. (2024, April 5). Boundless.¹⁰
4. X.com. (n.d.). X (formerly Twitter)¹¹
5. Cache://x.com/GavinWax/status/1872331492409696632 – Google search. (n.d.).¹²

Direct References:

1. S.358 – 101st Congress (1989-1990): Immigration Act of 1990. (1990, November 29). https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/358 ↩︎
2. Kumar. (2010, January 14). H1B visa cap reach dates history FY 2000 to 2025 – Graph – USCIS data. RedBus2US. https://redbus2us.com/h1b-visa-cap-reach-dates-history-graphs-uscis-data/?utm_ ↩︎
3. Kably, L. (2023, June 5). US H-1B visa: With 3.20 lakh H-1B visas bagged in FY 2022, Indians continue to top USCIS charts | – Times of India. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/with-3-20-lakh-h-1b-visas-bagged-in-fy-2022-indians-continue-to-top-the-charts/articleshow/100772292.cms?utm_ ↩︎
4. (n.d.). USCIS. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/data/h-1b-petitions-by-gender-country-of-birth-fy2019.pdf?utm_ ↩︎
5. Nytimes.com. (2024, December 27). The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/technology/trump-musk-immigration-h1b-visa.html ↩︎
6. Rajghatta, C. (2024, December 26). Racist rants and resentment against Indians in US after MAGA meltdown over Trump’s AI pick – Times of India. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/racist-rants-and-resentment-against-indians-in-us-after-maga-meltdown-over-trumps-ai-pick/articleshow/116689263.cms ↩︎
7. Just a moment... (2024, December 26). Just a moment… https://www.axios.com/2024/12/26/maga-civil-war-ramaswamy-musk-loomer-cernovich ↩︎
8. Musk and Ramaswamy are sparking a debate over the H-1B visa. Here’s what to know about the visa. (2024, December 27). CBS News | Breaking news, top stories & today’s latest headlines. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/musk-vivek-ramaswamy-h1b-visa-maga-immigration-what-to-know/ ↩︎
9. The H-1B visa program and its impact on the U.S. economy. (2023, August 18). American Immigration Council. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/h1b-visa-program-fact-sheet ↩︎
10. The H-1B cap lottery, explained. (2024, April 5). Boundless. https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/h-1b-lottery-cap-explained/
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11. X.com. (n.d.). X (formerly Twitter). https://x.com/GavinWax/status/1872124852695679189 ↩︎
12. Cache://x.com/GavinWax/status/1872331492409696632 – Google search. (n.d.). https://x.com/GavinWax/status/1872331492409696632 ↩︎