‘This definitely has woken me up’: Foreigners scheme to keep their H-1B visas as Trump throttles cheap labor pipeline

Temporary Indian workers sidelined by the Trump administration’s tighter vetting policies are organizing by the thousands to keep the pipeline of cheap, foreign labor flowing.

The State Department’s new social media vetting policies for foreigners, requiring a more thorough review of an each individual’s online activity, has resulted in mass H-1B renewal appointment cancellations, with new appointments rescheduled for months later. In response, tens of thousands of Indian nationals have taken to Reddit, launched WhatsApp and Telegram groups and spoken to media outlets in attempt to return to the U.S. or remain in the country longer.

Indian H-1B holders are bouncing ideas online, such as asking others still in the U.S. to cancel their own appointments in hopes of opening up resources for their compatriots stuck in India, organizing petitions to demand U.S. consulates open up more interview slots or changing visa categories entirely.

“For now I am working to go back to U.S., but this definitely has woken me up and made me realize I need to have a plan B which I didn’t up until this point,” an Indian national who wished to remain anonymous in order to speak freely told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Like many others, the individual worked in the U.S. under an H-1B visa, but is now stuck in India.

‘Cancelled My Flight’

Thousands of other Indian nationals are searching for a “plan B” online. The DCNF unearthed numerous WhatsApp and Telegram groups boasting tens of thousands of members, all created in response to the recent wave of H-1B visa rescheduling.

“We are coordinating sending a group email requesting a super Saturday in Jan 1st/2nd week that would hopefully help folks regardless of ER for H1B and H4,” reads one post in a Telegram group with more than 20,000 members and growing. The group is littered with hundreds of posts every day about worker visa appointments.

“We can’t work more than 30 days outside the U.S., and moreover, my employer won’t allow me to work from India,” Mahendra, an H-1B employee from Bihar, India, told the DCNF. Like many other Indian nationals, Mehendra’s visa renewal appointment was abruptly rescheduled — his original date moving from Jan. 29, 2026 to March 2027.

Mahendra, who wished to only go by his first name out of fear of jeopardizing his immigration status, said he may decide to remain in his home country and forgo working in the U.S. entirely. The Indian national said he’s far from the only person in this situation.

“I know personally 23 folks who are on H-1Bs and impacted by this and lots of [it due to] social media,” he told the DCNF.

Many of the Indian nationals dealing with visa renewal delays discussed their intention to simply not travel back to India out of fear of being stuck in their home country.

“I’m in the U.S. right now. I was meant to fly out but cancelled my flight, still figuring whether to go,” one Indian national who wished not to be named, told the DCNF.

“My company does not let me work from India so I’m mostly not going under the assumption that my appointment is likely to get cancelled,” the H-1B employee continued, without clarifying if that meant remaining even after the expiration of his visa.

The new roadblocks for H-1B employees follow years of struggle for American workers battered by the influx of foreign labor, particularly Americans in the tech industry.

Around 428,000 tech workers lost their jobs between 2022 and 2023, and hundreds of tech companies handed pink slips to roughly 124,000 employees the following year, according to the Institute for Sound Public Policy (ISPP). However, the flow of H-1B workers into the country has largely kept apace, with the ISPP finding that the number of H-1B visa workers has grown 80% since the Great Recession low in 2011.

Immigration experts estimate that there are as many as 730,000 H-1B workers currently residing in the U.S., along with more than half a million of their dependents.

As American employees vie for jobs alongside Indian nationals willing to work for much less, the South Asian country has become one of the largest recipients of U.S. remittances,second only to Mexico. Indian workers in the U.S. send billions back to their homeland every single year, according to estimates.

‘Thoroughly Vetting Each Visa’

The State Department first unveiled stricter social media vetting standards in June, announcing that foreign students would undergo a “comprehensive and thorough” vetting of their online presence. The Trump administration, buckling down after a spate of high-profile arrests of Afghan nationals, expanded this enhanced screening to H-1B applicants and their dependents earlier in December.

The new vetting procedures means State Department officials can no longer quickly approve visa applications, resulting in delays for foreign workers planning to return to work in the U.S. While those affected are ripping the administration, government officials say this new policy will ultimately bolster U.S. security.

“While in the past the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world, including in India, are now prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else,” a State Department spokesperson told the DCNF. “They do not issue a visa unless the applicant can credibly demonstrate they meet all requirements under U.S. law – including that they intend to engage only in activities consistent with the terms of their visa.”

“We will not allow foreigners who pose a risk to Americans or U.S. national interests to abuse our immigration system,” the spokesperson continued. The State Department did not provide figures on exactly how many H-1B renewal appointments have been rescheduled.

The H-1B visa program is immensely popular among U.S.-based employers, with new visas capped at 85,000 a year and a lottery system that decides which foreign nationals obtain them.

The tech industry has long dominated the use of these visas, with tech companies accounting for nearly 70% of H-1B petitions annually, according to Nation Connections, a website dedicated to helping the public navigate immigration laws in various countries. India stands far above every other country as the top source of foreign labor into the U.S., making up 72% of all H-1B recipients between October 2022 and September 2023, per a March 2024 report compiled by the Department of Homeland Security.

American tech workers have long argued that the H-1B system has decimated their livelihood, forcing them to compete with cheap, foreign labor. The Trump administration has worked to help this segment of the American workforce, with President Donald Trump signing an executive order in September mandating a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications.

“In the interim [H-1B workers] will work remotely and their employers will assist them with any immigration related issues,” Kevin Lynn, who spearheads U.S. Tech Workers, an advocacy group for American workers displaced by the H-1B visa system, told the DCNF. He believes Indians affected by the increasing vetting will eventually navigate around it all.

“That said, it informs me the administration is getting more serious about vetting,” Lynn continued. “A small/incremental step. But a step nonetheless.”

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