New Delhi rejected the US vice president’s description of foreign workers as “indentured servants” amid a wider green-card crackdown
India has accused US Vice President J.D. Vance of making “deeply offensive” comments, after he described foreign workers as “indentured servants” while announcing Washington’s suspension of a key green-card sponsorship process for major technology companies, including several Indian IT firms.
“Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive,” India’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Vance made the comments at a White House news conference on Thursday, accusing eight tech companies of replacing American employees with lower-paid foreign workers. The suspension covers new and pending applications under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process for Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.
PERM is a key step for employers seeking to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, or green cards. New Delhi defended Indian professionals as highly educated and skilled contributors to the US economy and innovation sector. It also pointed to generations of immigrants whose labor and enterprise have helped build American prosperity.
Statement on announcement made by the US Department of Labour ⬇️
It said skilled-worker mobility benefits both economies by supporting innovation, research, competitiveness, and job creation in the US, adding that Washington’s latest measures “do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries.”
The sharp Indian reaction comes as trade talks between Washington and New Delhi are deadlocked, with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying Monday that it is “very difficult” for both sides to make further concessions.
The Indian market shrugged off the US ban, with shares of all the Indian IT companies involved lifted by the broader market. Indian IT industry body Nasscom said Indian technology companies had significantly reduced their reliance on H-1B visas, with relatively few employees seeking green cards through PERM.
Vance singled out Microsoft, alleging that it had laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. However, the tech company disputed the comparison, saying about 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year involved extensions or status changes for existing employees rather than new hires.
The suspension does not invalidate existing H-1B visas or affect the status of visa holders and their dependents, but could disrupt the green-card process for eligible employees at the affected companies, New Delhi noted.
