American right-wing commentators have launched a campaign against India, using trade tensions and immigration as rallying points in an increasingly hostile debate on social media. Prominent conservative voices, many with large followings on social media, have singled out Indian workers, students, and “call centres” in a barrage of posts that have drawn accusations of racism and hypocrisy.
“Don’t forget that any trade deal with India will require us to give them more visas. I’d rather not pay them in visas and trade deficits. Let Modi see what terms he can get from Xi instead,” wrote Fox News host Laura Ingraham on X.
Her comments were quickly echoed and amplified by Donald Trump supporter Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, who accused Indian professionals of displacing American workers.
“America does not need more visas for people from India. Perhaps no form of legal immigration has so displaced American workers as those from India. Enough already. We’re full. Let’s finally put our own people first,” he wrote.
The remarks mark a shift from the 2024 US election, when significant numbers of Indian American voters supported the Republican Party for the first time, frustrated by what they saw as Democratic excesses.
Adding to the wave of attacks, far-right commentator Jack Posobiec demanded sweeping tariffs on sectors dominated by India’s outsourcing industry.
“Tariff the call centers. All of them. Tariff all foreign call centers and foreign remote workers. 100% tariff,” he wrote in two separate posts.
Pushback From Indian-American Voices
The online rhetoric has triggered pushback among many Indian Americans who had shifted rightwards in recent years.
“I am shocked, although I perhaps shouldn’t be, at how a certain faction of the right has managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. I know so many Indian-American voters who went GOP for the first time in 2024… only to regret it just months later seeing this rhetoric. Limit visas, restrict immigration, whatever, some restrictions are definitely necessary. But this is just blatant racism, call me a lib if you want,” she wrote.
Journalist Billy Binion also challenged the comments.
“Call this what it is: entitlement. Some conservatives don’t want competition from hardworking immigrants who outwork & outperform them. And here I’d been told progressives are the ones against merit,” he wrote.
Tariffs And Accusations Of Double Standards
The attacks come just as President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent – the highest rate imposed on any US trading partner. By comparison, Chinese imports face duties of only 30 per cent. The administration has simultaneously revoked thousands of student visas for Indians, even as it welcomed 6,00,000 Chinese students into American universities.
Indians account for 75 per cent of H-1B visa holders, driving key innovations in Silicon Valley firms such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. More than 2,00,000 Indian students study in the United States, contributing billions of dollars annually to university budgets and local economies.
Supporters of continued Indian migration argue that restricting these pathways risks undermining US competitiveness in technology and higher education.
Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna accused President Trump of endangering decades of bipartisan work on the bilateral relationship.
“We can’t allow the ego of Donald Trump to destroy a strategic relationship with India, that is key to ensuring that America leads and not China,” he said.
Trump has labelled the US-India trade relationship a “disaster”, alleging New Delhi has imposed unfair tariffs on American products while profiting from Russian energy purchases.
India has rejected these criticisms, calling the measures “unfair and unjustified” and emphasising that energy procurement is driven by national interest and market realities.
