Nalin Haley’s hardline views on the legal immigration scene in the United States have repeatedly amassed massive viral attention on social media in recent times. As the son of Indian-American Republican politician Nikki Haley, the 24-year-old has even been seen hitting it out against fellow Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy on X over his ‘America First’ understanding.
Nalin finally found a well-established platform to openly express his hardline views on legal immigration, religion and a lot more on the Tucker Carlson Network this week.
The development invited sharp reactions from all sides of the political table. While some chose to drag Nalin over his “anti-immigration” ideology, others hailed him the potential “face of the male Gen Z Right-Wing” after catching his recorded interaction with the former Fox News icon.
Nalin Haley’s views on legal immigration: Brief recap of Tucker Carlson interview
Among the many admissions he made during his interview on ‘The Tucker Carlson Show,’ Nalin prominently spoke against naturalised citizens holding public office. He even went on to target dual citizenship, declaring that people should either be American or just not altogether.
The South Carolina native additionally took aim at foreign students coming to the US, as he argued that these incoming international enrollments should be limited for the country’s safety. Without citing firm evidence, Nalin alleged that some of these supposed “foreign students” were “spies” for foreign governments.
In yet another fiery confession, he pushed that people should be forbidden from serving in a foreign military. “Dual citizenship is already bad enough. But to serve in another country’s military is disqualifying,” he told the conservative journalist on the Thursday episode of the ‘Tucker Carlson Show.’
Firmly asserting his take, Nalin again expressed the need to limit legal immigration in the age of global mass migration to protect American standpoints. His argument was particularly fuelled by the much-brought-up accusation against foreigners that they are snatching job opportunities from Americans.
Tucker Carlson on Nalin Haley
First and foremost, Tucker Carlson was more than happy to have Nalin on his shows despite having qualms with his mother’s understanding of the MAGA agenda. While introducing the 24-year-old to his viewers and detailing why he was being brought on to the show, the Fox News alum said, “I’ve been a consistent and pretty strident opponent of Nikki Haley’s views for a long time.”
He still maintained that he had no intentions to drive a wedge through Nalin’s relationship with the former presidential candidate. Divulging that while Haley’s mixed-race son, who practices Christianity, doesn’t always agree with his own mom’s politics on a lot of issues, he still loved her ardently.
“That in itself is just such a remarkable model of what this country should be, the way that we should all be, but increasingly are not,” Carlson said of Nalin not cutting off ties with his mother despite disagreeing with her over quite a lot.
Over the course of their interaction, Carlson affirmatively nodded to a lot of what Nalin had to say on the issue of legal immigration and religion. He finally concluded the interview by saying that he found “hope” in Nikki Haley’s second child.
Nalin Haley-Tucker Carlson interview: How people are reacting
Quite a few users took issue with Nalin joining up with someone who had viciously spoken out against his mother in the past.
“Tucker Carlson has called Nalin Haley’s mom an ‘utterly treacherous,’ ‘creature of the oligarchs’ who he ‘despises.’ And instead of socking him in the mug, this sad little boy is sucking up to him. Disgraceful stuff. What the hell is wrong with out political class?,” someone wrote on X.
However, the amount of positive reception he got after the interview was hard to ignore as well. Countless comments on YouTube praised him for his unflinching commitment to the ‘America First’ agenda. Similar remarks also came up on X, with one self-described ‘American Nationalist’ declaring, “Nalin Haley is going to quickly rise to become the face of the male Gen Z Right-Wing.”
Suggesting Nalin was “going places,” the person added, “I’ve watched multiple interviews with him. He is extremely well spoken and has based views on immigration and foreign policy.”
Another user backing the same politics chimed in: “Hi, I just want to say you were great on Tucker’s show. I have 3 children of my own, 2 in high school and I pray we can all come together and make the world great again for future generations. Thank you for your words and encouragement to young Americans. Your Mom and Dad should be very proud of you.”
An Indian-origin geopolitical advisor also took to X to point out the “great irony” in Nalin Haley’s appearance on the ‘Tucker Carlson Show.’ She said, “Nalin Haley is wearing a Sikh kara (a steel bracelet that historically was a protective ring for the sword arm of a Khalsa [Indian] warrior)… as he decries dual-citizenship & naturalized citizens who’ve served in a foreign army holding elected office in (American flag).”
Another person on the same page commented: “I see this a lot with Desi 3rd and 4th Generation Indian Americans- They hate immigrants forgetting their grandparents were also naturalized citizens of this great nation (American flag). They hate their Indian heritage, ancestors (Indian flag) and don’t like to be associated anything with India other than food.”
These messages reiterated what Indian-origin Brit journalist said on X last month: “Nalin’s grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, the late father of Nikki Haley, a Sikh immigrant from India, had to confront similar bogus anti-immigrant arguments from the right when he moved to the US for work in 1969.”
About Nalin Haley
The Villanova University alum is of Indian descent as his mother Nikki Haley was born (Nimarata Nikki Randhawa) in South Carolina to immigrant Punjabi parents from Amritsar. His father, on the other hand, is Michael Haley, an American businessman and a major in the National Guard.
Nalin, much like his mother, is a devout follower of Christianity. Quite a few netizens took issue with the 24-year-old for speaking out against naturalised citizens given his own Indian connection. Nonetheless, reactions to his statements don’t evade Haley’s youngest.
Having long brought up these issues on his SNS platform already, Nalin told Carlson on Thursday that both type of groups had come up to him after reading his tweets or hearing his views on immigration.
He acknowledged that a huge number of legal immigrants or their children had thanked him for speaking on the issue. On the flip side, he also noted that many had called him out for being “hypocritical,” especially since his maternal grandparents were the first to immigrate to the US in 1969. Per his confession, some had even called him “racist” over the same.
“They think that I owe them my loyalty because of some decision my grandparents made, which is stupid because all I’ve known is America. All I know is American culture. I love the South,” he responded to the criticism. “I only speak English. I’m a Christian. Why would I care about anything else?”
Nalin maintains an argument that many stand by in America – the immigration scene in 1969’s America vs the 2025’s US are not same. He also remains a firm believer in immigrants having to assimilate into the American society, as opposed to many Democrats favouring “integration” and retention of migrants’ own culture instead.