“Laura Loomer is wrong on H-1B,” the Indian American Advocacy Council (IAAC) firmly declared on social media earlier this week. The diaspora-focussed “voluntary, community-driven advocacy group” fumed online after the far-right political activist and Donald Trump loyalist faced flak for her recent appearance at the India Today Conclave 2026 in New Delhi, where she tried her best to defend or downplay her previous anti-India, anti-Islam, and anti-H-1B rhetoric.
While at the India summit this week, Loomer stood by her “America First” agenda and doubled down on her hate for the H-1B visa program, which has been responsible for importing high-skilled talent to the United States. The MAGA influencer is one of the many Americans to have turned into an outspoken critic of the ‘specialty occupations’ non-immigrant visa category and sparked an anti-India debate around it since Indian nationals have held over 70% of H-1B visas in recent years.
Many have also argued on social media that American employers have largely relied on the H-1B visa program to hire “cheap foreign labour” instead of prioritising American workers. Even the Donald Trump administration has drastically revamped the program by revising multiple policies linked to it in a bid to “protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers,” as per the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Indian American body blasts Laura Loomer
“H-1B workers aren’t ‘cheap labour,’ federal law requires prevailing wages, and recent estimates show new H-1B pay averages ~$110K+. (Higher than U.S. average),” The India American Advocacy Council wrote on X after Loomer’s appearance at the India Today Conclave 2026.
Arguing that most foreign hires fill “real shortages” rather than replacing Americans, the IAAC outlined key points about how skilled immigrants are driving critical sectors in the US.
“AI & advanced tech research relies heavily on global talent, including H-1Bs,” it added. “~1 in 4 U.S. physicians is foreign-born, many serve rural/underserved areas. Engineers are building infrastructure across high-growth states like TX & AZ.”
The group asserted that while it supported “smart reform to close loopholes and abuse,” it couldn’t stand by “scapegoating skilled immigrants,” which “ignores both the data and America’s innovation model.”
What did Laura Loomer say at the India summit?
Over the weekend in India, Loomer played her part in defending her old anti-India tweets, some of which were deleted from X before the event. Veteran Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai even confronted the Trump ally after her interview with the India Today Conclave moderators about how she had once said the US was built by “white Europeans, not third-world invaders from India.”
Before Sardesai furiously railed at Loomer for her “brazenly racist and Islamophobic” stance, MAGA conspiracy theorist told the other India Today interviewees that she regretted posting certain disparaging comments about the country. However, she still stood her ground regarding her vocal criticism of H-1B visas and asserted that she wouldn’t apologise for that in particular.
Claiming to speak on behalf of “young Americans,” she stressed the idea that their resentment towards foreign workers was justified as work visa programs were essentially telling them they’re “not the best and brightest,” and it was this sense of “entitlement” on the part of visa holders that created “bad blood” between them and US-born citizens in America.