The latest Financial Times report says that several US companies have recently faced rising anti-Indian sentiment. Experts, according to FT, say the attacks grew after President Trump announced revisions to the H-1B visa program in September.
A FedEx truck crash just before Christmas became the spark for a wave of anti-Indian posts online. A video of the wrecked lorry spread across X, and dozens of people rushed to blame the accident on FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam’s Indian heritage. The report notes, FedEx is not alone.
Anti-Indian backlash hits US companies
FT, citing a recent report from the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate, reported that these online attacks are constantly being tracked. Executive director Raqib Naik described them as ‘co-ordinated campaigns’ aimed at Indian American entrepreneurs who received Small Business Administration loans. Naik said the hostility is part of a larger trend, “a spike in discrimination and harassment in the US portraying Indians as job stealers and visa scammers.”
According to the report from the Financial Times, threats of violence against South Asian people, especially Indians increased by 12% in the year leading up to November, according to Stop AAPI Hate and counterterrorism company Moonshot. The use of online slurs grew by 69% over the same period.
Many US companies are now cautious about speaking on race. Last year, dozens suspended diversity, equity, and inclusion programs after conservatives argued these efforts unfairly disadvantaged white Americans, according to FT. Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, analyst at London’s Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told FT, “Indians have become a victim of an increasingly ethnocentric narrative around migrants. Unfortunately, anti-immigrant rhetoric seems to be moving toward a ‘war for the soul of America.’”
In September, after the government launched Project Firewall to investigate alleged H-1B visa fraud, several anonymous accounts shared names and contact information of employees at Walmart, Verizon, Dish Network, and other companies, claiming they were selling jobs to Indian nationals. Most of these companies rushed to decline such practices.
When the FedEx episode happened, many online users targeted the CEO’s Indian heritage. One post read, “Stop the fu**** Indian takeover of our great American companies.” Another said, “They need the Bud Light treatment,” referencing a 2023 boycott of AB InBev. A similar pattern was observed again when a report from the Dallas Express claimed that the company is hiring H-1B workers while firing Americans.
The company at the time strongly denied those allegations. A company statement said, “For more than 50 years, FedEx has fostered a merit-based culture that creates opportunity for everyone. We take great pride that this has resulted in a workforce that represents the diversity of the more than 220 countries and territories we serve.”
Why are Indians taking the heat?
The tension comes as more Indians immigrate to the US. Companies are hiring software developers, engineers, doctors, and researchers from India to fill gaps in domestic talent.
Indian nationals now hold 71% of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers. The White House has proposed a $100,000 fee to limit applicants. From February, the Department of Homeland Security will prioritise H-1B applications from the highest-paid workers, in an effort to “better protect American workers.”
Even some of America’s top executives, like Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, began their careers through the H-1B program. But this hasn’t slowed the spread of anti-Indian rhetoric.