Washington:
US Vice President JD Vance has defended his much-criticised description of H-1B visa workers as "indentured servants", claiming his controversial comments were directed at American companies exploiting foreign employees rather than at immigrants themselves. He also invoked his wife, Usha Vance's Indian heritage while defending the Donald Trump administration's anti-immigration push.
Vance made the remarks earlier this week at the CBS News town hall in Flat Rock, Michigan, just days after India called his words "unwarranted" and "deeply offensive".
During an exchange with Niv Agaram, a naturalised American citizen who said he had immigrated to the United States about 20 years ago and accused Vance of "scapegoating immigrants", the vice president acknowledged that his language on immigration had sometimes been imperfect, but insisted his remarks were directed at the policy rather than people.
What JD Vance Said
"... My rhetoric has been imperfect here, that's on me...[But] when I say an indentured servant, that's not a criticism of the H-1B visa holder, that's a criticism of a company," Vance said.
He discussed his blended family and said, "You know where my family comes from, and I love my mother-in-law and father-in-law, who immigrated from South India, and obviously their daughter, born in the United States of America, is now the second lady, and I'm very proud of her, and I love her very much."
He, however, added that he was to create a system that not only welcomes people who add value to the country but is also fair to US workers. "I think that our immigration system has to balance," he said.
Vance argued that employers sometimes recruit foreign workers after dismissing Americans, leaving incoming employees dependent on their employers for their continued presence in the country. Unlike American citizens, he said, foreign workers could face consequences extending beyond losing their jobs if they challenged their employers.
"I think that gives employers way too much power," Vance said, arguing the problem lay in the American visa system that could leave workers vulnerable to exploitation, rather than in the individuals seeking employment and opportunities in America.
Vance also criticised companies that claimed they could not find qualified American workers while simultaneously dismissing their existing employees. He argued that such practices harmed both domestic workers and immigrants.
He also argued that rapid immigration could undermine social cohesion and change communities in ways that some existing residents found difficult.
Row Over Vance's H-1B Remarks
Earlier this month, the US suspended several firms, including Indian IT companies, from a programme that lets foreign workers apply for green cards, arguing that the practice has shut Americans out of the job market. Vice President Vance made the announcement, calling foreign professionals holding H-1B visas "indentured servants" and the companies using the programme as "visa mills".
The H-1B programme allows American employers to recruit foreign professionals for specialised occupations. Indian nationals have historically accounted for the largest share of its beneficiaries, making up over 70 per cent of all approved H-1B petitions annually.