A question from an Indian student on H-1B visas put Vice President JD Vance on the spot, and his response is now going viral. Speaking at the University of Mississippi during a Turning Point USA event on April 14, Vance acknowledged problems in the visa system but also brought up his own family to make a broader point about immigration and identity.

‘I am married to the daughter of immigrants from India’

Vance began by acknowledging concerns around the H-1B system, saying there is “a lot of fraud in the system,” but quickly added that this doesn’t cancel out the role immigrants have played in building the US. “You can believe there is a lot of fraud… while also believing there are people who have come to the United States… who enriched this country,” he said.

Bringing in his own life, Vance pointed out that he is married to the daughter of Indian immigrants. But for him, the larger point was about what comes after. He said that once someone becomes an American, their primary duty is clear: “You have to think about the best interests of the country… not the one you came from beforehand.”

“I am married to the daughter of immigrants from India. I love my in-laws, and they were great people. But I also think when you become an American citizen, whether your family is nine generations of lineage or whether your family has fewer generations of lineage in the United States, one responsibility we must expect of citizens, and it is always hard to talk in specifics about your situation because I do not know about it, but one obligation of citizens is you have to think about the best interests of the country and not the one you came from beforehand, and not any, any group you came from. You have got to think of yourself as an American,” he said.

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To explain what he meant, he shared a story from Cleveland. He recalled speaking to a Ukrainian-American who urged him to keep supporting Ukraine. Vance said he pushed back, reminding the man that his country now is the United States. He then contrasted that with his Indian father-in-law, saying he had “never once” told him to take decisions based on India’s interests. “My father-in-law, who came, moved to the United States, got an education, became an American citizen, never once in my life said you have to do this or you should do this because it is in the best interests of the country I came from,” he said.

“Being American means America First,” he said, stressing that this attitude, whether someone’s family has been in the country for generations or just arrived, is what makes people feel more open to immigration in the first place.

A long-running criticism of H-1B

This isn’t new ground for Vance. He has been critical of the H-1B system for years. Back in 2022, he described it as “an unholy alliance between government and our biggest corporations,” arguing that it pushes down wages for American workers.

He has also pointed to cases where companies laid off US employees while still bringing in foreign workers on H-1B visas. According to him, a programme meant for “super geniuses” often ends up being used to hire cheaper labour instead.

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What’s changed under Trump 2.0

Under President Donald Trump’s current administration, the H-1B system has already seen major changes. There is now a steep $100,000 fee for new visa applications, brought in last year to discourage outsourcing-heavy hiring. The government has also tightened checks, increased scrutiny, and is planning to move away from the random lottery system to one that favours higher-paid and higher-skilled workers.

There are also proposals to push wages up, with the idea of protecting American jobs. These moves have triggered strong reactions. Tech companies and universities say the rules could hurt innovation and make it harder to attract global talent. Many Indian professionals, who make up a large share of H-1B holders, say the uncertainty is growing, especially after they have already invested heavily in US education and careers.

At the same time, supporters of the “America First” approach say these steps are necessary to fix a broken system.