Indian-American investor and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa has called for the H-1B visa program to be abolished, arguing that the system is now doing more harm than good to both the United States and India.
Wadhwa, who himself came to the US through the H-1B route, said the program once played an important role in helping America become a global leader in technology and innovation. But according to him, the system has now been badly abused.
In a lengthy post on X, Wadhwa explained why he has turned against the visa program.
He said some unethical staffing firms, often referred to as “body shops” in the tech industry, learned how to exploit the system. At the same time, long green-card backlogs left many skilled immigrants stuck for years and dependent on their employers.
Wadhwa had earlier told podcaster Mark Halperin that some H-1B workers come to the US with fake degrees or inflated resumes, allegedly with the help of staffing firms.
He argued that these practices damaged the original purpose of the visa program.
Wadhwa also said the second Trump administration had already introduced several changes that made it harder to obtain an H-1B visa. However, in his view, the system is now too broken to be fixed through minor reforms.
He said Congress should scrap the H-1B program and replace it with a new skilled-immigration system designed for scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, researchers and others who can contribute to America’s innovation and competitiveness.
According to Wadhwa, the new system should also prevent labour arbitrage and misuse.
He strongly supported the idea of a startup visa that would allow entrepreneurs who create jobs to come to the US.
Wadhwa also rejected the argument that criticism of H-1B abuse is mainly driven by racism.
According to him, many Americans are angry not with Indians as a community, but with misuse of a system that was originally created to support the US economy.
He said America should continue to attract the world’s best talent, but should give skilled immigrants more freedom and dignity instead of keeping them in immigration uncertainty for decades.
At the same time, he argued that the system should prioritise people who create jobs and improve US competitiveness, rather than those who could displace older American workers.
Wadhwa believes a properly designed startup visa and a new skilled-immigration framework would receive wider public support if they were protected from abuse and corruption.
