JD Vance says ‘I love my Indian in-laws’ after H-1B ‘indentured servants’ row

Vice President JD Vance expressed regret over his earlier remarks about H-1B visa workers, stating that his "rhetoric may have been imperfect." In a CBS News town hall, Vance clarified that his comments were directed at the companies and the visa system rather than the workers themselves. He emphasized that his wife, Usha Vance, and her parents immigrated from South India and that he loves them.

The controversy arose when Vance called H-1B workers "foreign indentured servants" and criticized Indian outsourcing firms for lowering American workers' wages. He claimed that H-1B workers earn about $20,000 less than their US counterparts and that foreign outsourcing firms cut their pay by $48,000. Vance argued that such practices were unfair to American workers and called for a more balanced immigration system that welcomed skilled immigrants while protecting US jobs.

The MEA had already condemned Vance's words as "unwarranted" and "deeply offensive," accusing him of scapegoating immigrants. The administration subsequently suspended several Indian IT companies from the PERM program, which is the first step toward obtaining a green card for foreign workers.