【By Observer Net, Wang Kaiwen】Last month, US President Trump signed an executive order that significantly increased the fees for H-1B visas to $100,000. Since 70% of H-1B visa holders come from India, Indians have become the group most affected by the new policy. The Indian government has specifically spoken out on this issue, urging the United States to handle it properly.

Despite this, some observers have noted that Indian-Americans in the US have remained silent about the visa restrictions.

Bloomberg published an article on October 6 by its columnist and senior researcher at the Observer Research Foundation in India, Mihir Sharma, analyzing the reasons why Indian-Americans are not speaking up.

The article points out that in the past year, relations between the US and India have fallen to a low point in decades. In New Delhi, the general perception is that the deterioration of bilateral relations is due to Washington, with Trump taking strict measures against India.

What surprised the author was that Trump's actions faced no resistance, and many officials in Washington used even harsher language on trade, tariffs, and work visa issues than he did. Those American politicians who were more friendly toward India, such as Secretary of State Rubio, also did not challenge them.

From the perspective of New Delhi, the most shocking thing was the "silence" of Indian-Americans. The author lamented that as the relationship between their homeland and the country they settled in deteriorated, the large, wealthy, and influential Indian diaspora remained completely silent.

On September 19, 2025, in Washington D.C., US President Trump signed an executive order to reform the H-1B visa program. Oriental IC

The article argues that things should not be this way. The Indian-American community should have been an advantage for India, a solid support force that could provide arguments for strengthening bilateral relations and act as advocates. The Indian government repeatedly emphasizes the importance of "civilian ties," and Prime Minister Modi has worked hard to show his popularity among the Indian communities in the US and other regions.

"But Modi's Indian-American supporters have remained silent at the moment when the Prime Minister needed them most," the article states. Even when the mechanism that allowed so many Indians to enter American society, the H-1B visa system, was attacked by the US government, they did not speak out or protest.

The author mentions that some members of Congress recently visited New Delhi and explicitly pointed out this situation to Indian legislators. One of them said her office had received no calls asking her to speak up for India.

Regarding why Indian-Americans remain silent, Sharma believes part of the reason lies in the new sense of insecurity this group feels in American society.

He mentioned that Indian-American businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is a supporter of the MAGA movement. However, last winter, when the issues of Indian immigrants and H-1B visas first emerged, even Ramaswamy was shocked by the strong backlash from American racial nationalists. Now, the right-wing online environment in the US shows even stronger hostility towards South Asians.

On the positive side, the current measures taken by the US government against India do not pose a survival threat to India. Work visas, tariffs, and occasional official condemnations are far less serious than the issues that mobilized the Ukrainian, Arab, or Jewish communities in the US.

There is also a simpler reason, which is the least worth explaining one: New Delhi has always been overly optimistic about what overseas citizens can do for their homeland.

The article states that for Indian-Americans, they may not feel any other attachment to their homeland besides family or religious ties, and even these factors tend to weaken over time and with generational changes.

The author points out that when Indian-Americans learn that India or Indians are now global participants, they might be spiritually encouraged, which is also a reason why they enthusiastically welcomed Modi. But ultimately, whether India's economy grows or the relationship with the US improves, it has no direct stake in their lives.

India had hoped that the increasingly stringent immigration environment in the US would encourage talented Indian-Americans to return to India, promoting key industries like information technology to move up the value chain.

However, the author points out that such "return" is almost impossible to achieve. Most Indian-Americans prefer to move to countries like Canada, which offer solutions for people who have lost access to the US H-1B visa channel.

The article argues that it cannot be expected that these Indian-Americans will invest in India. In the author's view, China's rise and prosperity have been largely driven by the contributions and efforts of overseas Chinese, while overseas Indians contribute only a fraction of that.

The author laments that the choices and silence of Indian-Americans in the US prove that they are first and foremost Americans rather than Indians.

"There is nothing wrong with this, and in fact, this may be the natural state. India has never had a real reason to expect anything from them, and should stop expecting it from now on," the article states.

This article is exclusive to Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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