Vivek Ramaswamy Calls The H-1B Visa Programme "Indentured Servitude" And Vows To End It (instagram.com/vivekgramaswamy)
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian-American Republican hopeful for the US presidential election, remarked in a recent interview with Politico that the H-1B visa programme is “indentured servitude” and promised to “gut” the visas if he makes it to the White House.
A H-1B visa is a temporary (nonimmigrant) work visa that allows US employers to hire highly qualified foreign professionals in specialty occupations. The said visa is highly favoured among IT professionals in India.
The GOP candidate said, “The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it.”
Mr. Ramaswamy also added that the US needs to eliminate chain-based migration, as “The people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who make skills-based contributions to this country,” Politico quoted.
Ironically enough, Mr. Ramaswamy himself has utilised the H-1B visa programme 29 times in the past for his former company, Roivant Sciences, to hire employees during the period 2018–23. He resigned as the chief executive officer of the biopharmaceutical company, Roivant, in February 2021, but remained the chair of the company’s board of directors until he announced his presidential campaign in February this year.
However, in the interview, he claimed the H1-B visa programme is “bad for everyone involved.”
When controversy stirred over his remark, as Mr. Ramaswamy, who was himself a son of immigrants, wanted to eliminate the immigration visa system, he reiterated his stand on X, that “the foreign visa “lottery” is senseless” and is “a product of corporate lobbying,” and he will fix it.
.@Politico tried to play “gotcha” by saying I want to gut the H1-B system even though my companies have used it to hire foreign graduates from top U.S: universities. Well, U.S. energy sector regulations are badly broken, but I still use water & electricity. Turns out I actually… pic.twitter.com/EpbLY5S5Pc
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 17, 2023
“It”s a lottery. Why on earth would you use a lottery when you could use meritocratic admission instead, restore merit,” the 38-year-old presidential aspirant told Fox News.
Mr. Ramaswamy, who has received attention since his first Republican presidential primary debate held on August 23, is one of the potential competitors in the US presidential position.
