'Deeply offensive': India hits back at US Vice-President JD Vance for 'indentured labour' remark

India has strongly objected to US Vice President JD Vance’s description of H-1B visa holders as “indentured labour”, calling the terminology deeply offensive because of its painful historical and colonial associations. “Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” India said, adding that “such descriptions are unwarranted”.

What did JD Vance say?

Vance on Thursday (Oc 08) criticised the use of H-1B visas while addressing a news conference on visa fraud, describing some foreign workers as “indentured servants”. He alleged that H-1B workers earned less than American citizens in comparable roles and claimed that foreign outsourcing firms used overseas recruitment to undercut US wages.

“If you are working as an H-1B visa in the United States of America, you’re earning $20,000 less than an American citizen hired in the same position,” Vance said. He claimed that workers brought in by foreign outsourcing firms earned $48,000 less than American workers in similar positions.

American curbs and Indian tech workers

The Trump administration on Thursday suspended major technology companies from an employment-based green card programme, accusing critics of wanting to preserve a “never-ending flow of cheap labour”. The move has direct implications for Indian IT services firms and thousands of Indian professionals seeking permanent residency in the United States.

Indian IT giants among companies suspended

The dispute follows a major move by the US Labour Department, which suspended several large technology and IT outsourcing companies from the PERM programme amid multiple active federal investigations. The companies named included Indian IT services majors Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro and HCL, alongside France's Capgemini. US technology companies Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended.

US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the companies had collectively sought millions of foreign workers and received hundreds of thousands of H-1B visa approvals and permanent labour certifications. “Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost 3 million foreign workers. They received over 230,000 H-1 B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications,” Sonderling said, arguing that the figures represented jobs taken from American workers.