With Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent order freezing new H-1B visa applications at public universities and state agencies, most headlines emerging from the US state have mostly been about the nonimmigrant work visa. Even MAGA influencers like Sara Gonzales and other Texas figures have, in the meantime, doubled down on speaking out against H-1B workers supposedly snatching jobs from Americans.

At a time like this, a Frisco city council meeting again became the centre of more debates surrounding the alleged “H-1B visa fraud” claims in Texas.

H-1B visa fraud claims raised at Frisco meeting

This past Tuesday (US time), a dozen speakers came together, donning “American First” hats and other paraphernalia associated with the far-right, to rage against the “Indian takeover” impacting the city, according to the Dallas Observer.

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Speeches at the event sought to address the “flood of foreigners” in Frisco, Texas, in recent years. Videos of the city council meeting have since surfaced on social media. Conservative influencer Kaylee Campbell was yet another person who amplified the calls against the “massive takeover” of Indians in the city.

Although H-1B visa fraud allegations have yet to be officially substantiated, speakers at the meeting vehemently voiced their criticism of the town’s growing Indian population.

“It’s not a coincidence that Frisco’s Indian population exploded … and there’s visa fraud here,” said a self-proclaimed “whistleblower” named Marc Palasciano, as per the Dallas Observer. Having frequented other city council meetings to speak on the issue, he added, “Frisco needs to wake up. Soon your entire City Council could be Indian.”

Anti-India hate rising in Texas amid H-1B crackdown

At the same time, the report highlighted that a majority of those who spoke out against the H-1B issue or Frisco’s rising Indian population weren’t actually from Frisco.

The massive turnout from even outside the city reflected the anti-H-1B sentiment taking over the US under the Donald Trump administration in general. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data cited in US reports indicated that over 70% of H-1B visas in the country have been issued to people from India in the recent past.

On the other hand, dozens of others being members of the Indian community and Frisco residents expressed their support for the South Asian diaspora.

“Somewhere along the way Indians came to America, and then they became Americans, and then they helped to reinforce the American Dream because the American Dream requires participation,” said Frisco City Council member Burt Thakur.

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“People are upset. And I suppose what I’m trying to say to you is this. Look to the left of you and look to the right of you. This is Frisco. … Together we can do amazing things.”

As highlighted by a city-released 2026 population analysis, Frisco’s demographics have seen a drastic change in recent years. 33% of the city’s residents are Asian, accounting for a 26% rise from the numbers in 2020.

The confrontational Frisco meeting came to light after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into “ghost offices” as part of a state-wide crackdown on alleged H-1B visa abuse.