US companies hit by anti-Indian racism as Donald Trump restricts foreign worker visas

Increase in rhetoric against south Asians follows the White House’s overhaul of H-1B programme

FedEx is one of a growing number of US businesses that have faced a surge of anti-Indian racism © David Paul

Taylor Nicole Rogers in New York

PublishedJan 13 2026

After a video of a wrecked FedEx lorry circulated on X just before Christmas, dozens of commenters quickly blamed the pile-up on the Indian heritage of the logistics company’s chief executive.

“Stop the fucking Indian takeover of our great American companies,” read one post.

“They need the Bud Light treatment,” said another, referring to a 2023 boycott of beermaker AB InBev over its marketing collaboration with a transgender model.

FedEx is one of a growing number of US businesses that have faced a surge of anti-Indian racism amid the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict foreign skilled labour.

The non-profit Center for the Study of Organized Hate has tracked what executive director Raqib Naik dubbed “co-ordinated campaigns” to harass Indian American entrepreneurs who received loans from the Small Business Administration, a government agency.

The hostility is part of what Naik called a “spike in discrimination and harassment in the US portraying Indians as job stealers and visa scammers”.

Threats of violence against south Asian people increased 12 per cent in the year to November, according to an analysis by advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate and counterterrorism company Moonshot. The groups also found that the online use of slurs against south Asians grew 69 per cent.

The increase comes as the number of Indians immigrating to the US has surged with companies recruiting software developers, engineers, doctors and researchers from the south Asian nation to make up for a shortage of domestic candidates.

Indian nationals make up 71 per cent of holders of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers, thrusting them into the spotlight as the White House tries to limit programme applicants with a $100,000 fee.

The Department of Homeland Security has said it will begin prioritising H-1B applications from the highest-paid workers from February, in an effort to “better protect American workers”.

Some of America’s most high-profile executives have benefited from the H-1B visa programme and are of Indian origin, including Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. But that has not stopped the flood of anti-Indian rhetoric.

Raj Subramaniam speaks while gesturing with both hands, wearing a suit and tie, with a microphone headset.

Rightwing commentators have amplified accusations that FedEx chief executive Raj Subramaniam, pictured, laid off white American workers and replaced them with Indian people © Lionel Ng/Bloomberg

Accusations that FedEx chief executive Raj Subramaniam has been laying off white American workers and replacing them with Indian workers — which the company denies — have been amplified by rightwing commentators, including Andrew Torba, founder of social media platform Gab.

“For more than 50 years, FedEx has fostered a merit-based culture that creates opportunity for everyone,” the company said. “We take great pride that this has resulted in a workforce that represents the diversity of the more than 220 countries and territories we serve.”

Experts tracking anti-Indian rhetoric online say vitriol surged after President Donald Trump announced revisions to the H-1B visa programme in September.

After the government in September launched “Project Firewall” to investigate allegations of widespread H-1B visa fraud, anonymous social media accounts posted the names and contact information of current and former employees at Walmart, Verizon, Dish Network and other companies, claiming they were illegally selling jobs to Indian nationals and taking kickbacks.

Walmart declined to comment. Verizon has been approached for comment. Dish Network did not respond to a request for comment.

“Indian Green Card Managers must be kicked out of the country,” said one post featuring screenshots of a Walmart recruiter’s LinkedIn page.

The allegations prompted a public rebuke from Trump ally and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who challenged the rhetoric during a speech at conservative conference AmericaFest in December.

“The idea that a ‘heritage American’ is more American than another American is un-American at its core,” Ramaswamy said.

The rise in anti-Indian rhetoric comes as many US companies have stopped commenting on racial issues. Last year dozens suspended their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts after conservatives claimed programmes designed to combat discrimination against people of colour unfairly disadvantaged white Americans.

Advocacy groups said the shift had made companies more hesitant to speak out against anti-Indian racism or to support cultural celebrations such as Diwali.

“Indians have become a victim of an increasingly ethnocentric narrative around migrants,” said Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, an analyst at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue. “I think where we go from here is, unfortunately, that we see anti-immigrant rhetoric increasingly moving in the direction of a ‘war for the soul of America’.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5821834&forum_id=2.#49588099)