India on Friday strongly objected to US Vice-President JD Vance’s description of foreign workers as “indentured servants”, calling the terminology “deeply offensive” and saying it ignores the contributions
of Indian professionals to the American economy and innovation ecosystem.
Responding to questions about Vance’s remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Indian professionals in the United States were highly educated and skilled contributors whose work had helped drive economic growth and innovation.
“We believe that such descriptions are unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem,” the MEA said.
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“Indeed, the history of the United States itself has been shaped by generations of immigrants whose labour, enterprise and innovation have contributed to its growth and prosperity. Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” it added.
The response comes after Vance criticised American companies for employing foreign workers through the H-1B visa programme and sponsoring them for permanent residency through the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, or PERM.
What Did JD Vance Say About Foreign Workers?
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Vance accused Microsoft of exploiting the US immigration system by laying off American employees while hiring foreign workers. He claimed that Microsoft had laid off 6,000 American workers in the previous year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.
“In other words, if you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,” Vance said.
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He also argued that H-1B workers were vulnerable because their immigration status was tied to their employment, leaving them at risk of having to leave the country if they lost their jobs. “When I say indentured servants, here’s what I mean—when somebody comes in on an H-1B, they are completely subordinate to that company,” he said.
Vance further claimed that H-1B workers earned around $20,000 less than American citizens in comparable positions, while workers brought in through foreign outsourcing firms earned around $48,000 less. These figures were cited by Vance in support of his argument that companies were using foreign labour to undercut American wages.
The US administration has maintained that its actions are aimed at protecting American workers and addressing alleged abuses of the visa system.
US Suspends Eight Companies From Green Card Programme
The remarks came amid the US government’s suspension of eight companies from the PERM programme, which allows employers to seek labour certification as part of the process of sponsoring eligible foreign workers for employment-based green cards.
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The companies include Indian IT services firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL, along with US-based Microsoft, Adobe and Capgemini.
US officials said the action was intended to address alleged abuse of the system. Vance specifically accused Microsoft of replacing American workers with foreign employees, while the administration has also raised concerns about the role of outsourcing firms in hiring foreign labour.
The suspension affects the companies’ ability to pursue the relevant labour-certification process for permanent residency applications. Its implications for individual workers will depend on their circumstances and the status of their applications.
