“Deeply offensive”: MEA condemns Vance’s "indentured servants' remark on H-1B workers, says it carries colonial connotations

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday condemned US Vice President JD Vance’s description of H-1B visa workers as “indentured servants”, calling the terminology “deeply offensive” and saying it carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday condemned US Vice President JD Vance’s description of H-1B visa workers as “indentured servants”, calling the terminology “deeply offensive” and saying it carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations. The MEA said the remarks ignored the contributions of Indian professionals to the US economy and innovation ecosystem, while asserting that talent mobility benefits both countries.

“We have also seen some comments in this context by the US Vice President. We believe that such descriptions are unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem,” the MEA said in a statement. “Indeed, the history of the United States itself has been shaped by generations of immigrants whose labour, enterprise and innovation have contributed to its growth and prosperity. Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” it added.

The statement came after Vance, while addressing a news conference on visa fraud on Thursday, described H-1B visa workers as “indentured servants” and accused foreign outsourcing firms of undercutting American workers' wages. “If you are working as an H-1B visa in the United States of America, you’re earning $20,000 less than an American citizen hired in the same position. If you were brought in by one of these foreign outsourcing firms, you’re making $48,000 less than an American citizen in a similar position,” Vance said.

“So, I’m sure that everybody here understands the game that is being played. You bring in indentured servants from outside the country, you lay off American workers and, if you’re a corporation, you make a ton of money by under cutting the wages of American workers, replacing them with people who frankly shouldn’t be in the United States of America to begin with,” he added. Separately, addressing the US Department of Labor’s decision concerning the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme for certain companies, the MEA clarified that PERM is distinct from the H-1B visa programme.

“We are aware of the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision concerning the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme for certain companies,” the MEA said. “It should be noted that PERM is distinct from the H-1B visa programme. The suspension of PERM applications does not, by itself, affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of H-1B visa holders and their dependents, though there could be some impact on the permanent-residency/Green Card process of eligible employees of the affected companies,” it added.

The MEA stressed that the movement of skilled professionals contributes to economic growth, innovation and employment in both countries, and said the US decision did not advance their shared ambitions. “It should also be clear that talent mobility adds value to both economies. While it creates opportunities for Indians, it equally helps US companies with cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, besides creating shareholder wealth in the US,” the statement said.

“This is therefore an area of tremendous mutual benefit for the two countries and our expectation is that all stakeholders in this process can appreciate this fact. The steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries,” it added. The MEA said it would continue to monitor developments surrounding the issue.

“We continue to follow developments around this issue,” the statement said. Earlier, in a far-reaching move US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling had announced that the US Government is suspending from the Permanent Labour Certification Program some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world which include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.

The US Labour department attributed the suspension to multiple active federal investigations even as it also suspended US tech majors Microsoft and Adobe from the program. Sonderling said the companies named had collectively sought millions of foreign workers and received hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa approvals and permanent labour certifications.

"Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost 3 million foreign workers. They received over 230,000 H1B Visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications that's hundred and thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers," the US Labour Secretary said. The announcement came a day after the US Department of Homeland Security proposed new fees for F-1 non-immigrant students seeking to participate in Optional Practical Training (OPT), describing the measure as an effort to protect American workers and strengthen the integrity of the immigration system. (ANI)