US Vice President JD Vance has conceded that his description of H-1B visa holders as “indentured servants” went too far, days after India issued a rare public rebuke calling the language “deeply offensive.” Speaking at a CBS News town hall on Saturday, Vance said his criticism was aimed at US employers and the visa system — not the foreign workers themselves.
What Vance said
The controversy began on October 8, when Vance backed the US Labor Department’s suspension of eight major technology companies — Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL and Cognizant — from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, the first step in the employment-based green card process. Addressing a news conference on visa fraud, Vance accused the firms of replacing American workers with foreign labor and called the companies “visa mills.”
“You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants,” Vance said, singling out Microsoft. He claimed the company had laid off 6,000 American workers while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards — “for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”
India’s rebuke
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded on October 9 with unusually sharp language for a sitting 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 ministry said. “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.”
New Delhi also defended talent mobility, arguing it benefits both economies by supporting innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation. Indian professionals account for more than 70 percent of all approved H-1B petitions each year, underscoring how much is at stake for both countries.
The walk-back
At Saturday’s CBS town hall, answering a question from an Indian immigrant who had become a US citizen five years ago and voted for President Donald Trump, Vance acknowledged his wording had been flawed: “To the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that’s on me.” He insisted the criticism was “not a criticism of the H-1B holder,” arguing instead that the system leaves workers vulnerable because their legal status is tied to one employer — their visa is, in his words, “their only lifeline to the United States of America.”
“It’s a criticism of the visa system that allows people to be treated effectively as indentured servants that can be shipped back to their country of origin,” Vance said, adding that employers hold too much power when a worker who complains can simply lose the job. He also invoked his own family ties, noting that his mother-in-law and father-in-law immigrated from South India: “My goal here is not to dehumanise any immigrant.”
The administration’s position remains that the PERM suspensions protect American workers from wage suppression and visa abuse. India and its diaspora, meanwhile, see the episode as an attack on skilled professionals who followed the rules. Whether Vance’s clarification calms the diplomatic fallout — or the fight simply moves to the next immigration battle — remains to be seen.
Sources
- Telegraph India: Vance admits “imperfect” rhetoric at CBS town hall, redirects criticism at employers
- Anadolu Agency: India calls Vance’s “foreign indentured servants” remarks deeply offensive
- Times of India: Vance walks back remark after India’s protest, says visa system gives employers too much power
- Times Now: India rebukes Vance, defends skilled professionals’ contribution to the US economy
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