Supporters of US President Donald Trump and those affiliated with his ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) agenda were quick to take aim at the Indian government’s response to the United States’ ongoing H-1B visa program shake-up.
Far-right commentators like Nick Sortor and Eric Daugherty, who have a vast following on social media, wrote back explosive statements after India’s Foreign Ministry’s official stance on the current US visa crackdown scenario spread like wildfire.
What the Indian government said about H-1B visa delays
On Friday (IST), a Foreign Ministry spokesperson established during a weekly press briefing that the Indian government was in the know about Indians facing visa-related troubles in light of delayed H-1B appointments.
During the press conference ahead of the weekend, the Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, “Visa-related issues pertain to the sovereign domain of any country. We have flagged these issues and our concerns of the national to the US side, both here in New Delhi and Washington DC.”
Hoping that visa delays will be addressed, the Indian government officially primarily pointed out that several people had been “stranded” in India due to their H-1B visa appointment delays. “These have caused lots of hardships to their families…,” he added.
How MAGA reacted to India flagging concerns about H-1B delays
Eric Daugherty, a political commentator from Florida, took to his X profile on Friday night. Roasting the Indian government response to Trump’s H-1B crackdown, he wrote, “India is reporting DELAYS of H-1B visas to the US, with Indians being “stranded” in their home country… GOOD! Hire an American. No delays there.”
In yet another post, he Daugherty alluded to the remarks US Vice President JD Vance delivered at the recent Turning Point USA AmericaFest event.
“JD Vance said it perfectly: ‘Why have we worked – without the help of Congress – to restrict H-1B visas? Because we believe it is WRONG for companies to bypass American labour, just to go for cheaper options in the 3rd world'” the commentator wrote online, reiterating that the US needs to favour hiring Americans instead of foreign nationals.
Far-right influencer and podcast Nick Sortor left a similar message on X. In his tweet, he chimed in, “The Indian government is complaining their citizens are being “STRANDED” in India due to President Trump’s increased vetting for H1-B visas.” Scoffing at how visa holders were complaining about being “STRANDED. IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES,” he added, “Just leave them there! Please! We DO NOT need them!”
🚨 JD VANCE SAID IT PERFECTLY: "Why have we worked – without the help of Congress- to restrict H-1B visas?"
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 26, 2025
"Because we believe it is WRONG for companies to bypass American labor, just to go for cheaper options in the 3rd world!" 💯
HIRE AMERICANS! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/r5wqYEtTBp
A third user fumed online: “They’re not stranded. THEY LIVE THERE. THAT’s THEIR HOME COUNTRY. ‘Stranded’ is when you’re unable to return home, which they’ve done. You should be grateful all those geniuses are back home, where they can help improve that sh**hole of a country.”
A fourth X user named Nate Murphy added: “You’re not ‘stranded’ – you’re already home. The United States is not obligated to give you a job.’
Yet another account with thousands of followers wrote on the Elon Musk-led platform: “I love how the India Government is saying they are stranded. How can you be “stranded” in your own damn country? I’m so sick of this H-1B scam. Keep them out of here.”
William Wolfe, the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Baptist Leadership and a former senior official in the Trump administration, also wrote, “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you can’t be “stranded” in your home country.”
In a separate critical rant on X, someone else said, “H-1Bs are supposed to be temporary visas. No H-1B holder is guaranteed a renewal, and no H-1B holder is entitled to a renewal. Indian H-1B holders are indian nationals. They aren’t “stranded,” they’re in their own country.”
H-1Bs are supposed to be temporary visas. No H-1B holder is guaranteed a renewal, and no H-1B holder is entitled to a renewal. Indian H-1B holders are indian nationals. They aren’t “stranded,” they’re in their own country. They aren’t entitled to mine. But obviously, that’s not… https://t.co/8Dn2DkoKyJ
— Sólionath (@Anarseldain) December 26, 2025
H-1B visa overhaul explained
The Trump administration has been severely critical of not just illegal immigration, but also legal frontiers allowing foreign nationals entry into the country. Although the H-1B visa lottery program has a regular annual cap of 65,000, Americans have been vehemently speaking out against the ‘specialty occupation’ nonimmigrant visa category.
Branding US employers’ heavy reliance on the visa program as H-1B “scam,” “fraud” or “abuse,” many on the far-right have accused companies of procuring cheap foreign labour instead of hiring Americans through it.
The Trump administration’s crackdown of even legal immigration options in the country involved the recent enhancement of screening and vetting for H-1B and Dependent H-4 visa applicants. Visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications had already been impacted by the rule earlier this year. As of December 15, the US State Department also instructed H-1B and H-4 recipients/applicants to make their social media profiles “public.”
The expanded vetting decision, attributed to national security, resulted in several H-1B visa appointments being cancelled or postponed. And so, work visa holders who had returned to their home countries, especially India, and were waiting for new visa stamping to secure their re-entry into the US, were forced to wait it out in their home country. The resulting situation put many H-1B applicants’ jobs in the US at stake as they were “stranded” in India.
On top of the December 15 rule, the Trump administration has now also revamped the whole H-1B lottery system, with a weighted selection process as its replacement set to go into effect February 27, 2026. Consequently, the policy change applying to the forthcoming H-1B cap registration season will now shift the Homeland Security’s priorities to focussing on higher-paid foreign workers.
Other than these two changes, Trump had also introduced a new annual $100,000 H-1B visa fee on each new application, as per a September proclamation.
