India scrambles to appease Trump amid fears over worker visas
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India aims to avoid a trade war with the US by cooperating on repatriation of illegal migrants. India has expressed readiness to collaborate with the US to identify and repatriate thousands of its citizens reportedly living illegally in America. This came as US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, discussed “irregular migration” on Tuesday as president Donald Trump took office, according to the US State Department.
The move to collaborate on repatriating as many as 18,000 Indians living illegally in the US is seen as an attempt by India to placate the new US president who could initiate a trade war with India over its high import taxes. In his first actions as president, Mr Trump prioritised tackling illegal immigration, issuing orders to declare a border emergency and station troops along the US-Mexico border.
India hopes the Trump administration will safeguard legal immigration pathways for its citizens, including student visas and the H-1B programme for skilled workers. H-1B visas are for highly skilled immigrants typically working in tech, healthcare, engineering and finance. Official data shows that Indian citizens made up nearly three-fourths of the 386,000 H-1B visas issued in 2023 in the US.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump weighed in on the H-1B visa debate and said: “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do.”.
