Free Republic

Under President Donald Trump’s renewed crackdown on illegal immigration, thousands of illegal migrants are facing deportation from the United States. Among them are dozens of Indian men who had risked everything, including their money, safety, and dreams, to reach what they believed was the land of opportunity. -snip- Harjinder Singh, a farmer, had spent 3.5 million rupees to go to the US four years ago. Once there, he worked as a cook, determined to support his children back home. “My hopes have been dashed, it is a pity that I could not do anything,” said Singh to BBC, adding he...

When the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced Project Firewall on September 19, media coverage focused on the press release—a pledge to “protect American jobs” by cracking down on H-1B visa abuse. A month later, the program’s impact is already being felt—not through formal prosecutions, but through the quiet compliance panic spreading across U.S. companies that depend on high-skilled foreign talent. Newsweek spoke to legal experts, immigration attorneys and Department of Labor officials who described how Project Firewall is already reshaping corporate compliance, legal strategy and the balance between enforcement and innovation in America’s high-skilled visa system. Why It Matters...

On the surface, the town of Jamtara appeared no different from neighbouring districts. But, if you knew where to look, there were startling differences. In the middle of spartan villages were houses of imposing size and unusual opulence. Millions of Indians knew why this was. They knew, to their cost, where Jamtara was. To them, it was no longer a place; it was a verb. You lived in fear of being “Jamtara-ed”. Over the past 15 years, parts of this sleepy district in the eastern state of Jharkhand had grown fabulously wealthy. This extraordinary feat of rural development was powered...

US Vice President JD Vance has defended the Trump administration’s decision to overhaul the H-1B visa programme, saying it is being misused to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour. -snip- “If you look at the H-1B visa, what it’s supposed to be is that you have a super genius who’s studying at an American university and who’s working at a great company. You want that super genius to stay in the United States of America and not go somewhere else. What it’s actually used to do is hire an accountant at a 50 per cent discount for an American...

The US Department of Homeland Security has announced an interim rule to stop the automatic extension of Employment Authorisation Documents (EAD) of migrant workers, a move that is likely to impact thousands of foreign employees, including Indians who make up a large portion of the expat workforce. In a statement on Wednesday, the Department said "Aliens who file to renew their EAD on or after Oct. 30, 2025 (Thursday), will no longer receive an automatic extension of their EAD." This means, EADs automatically extended before October 30 won't be affected. With the new rule, there will be more "vetting and...

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis bans H-1B visas at state universities, ordering institutions to hire Americans instead of foreign workers, citing visa abuse and prioritising local graduates for taxpayer-funded jobs. In a bombshell directive shaking up higher education, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced that state universities will no longer be allowed to hire foreign workers on H-1B visas, ordering institutions to prioritise American citizens and Florida residents for all university positions. “Universities across the country are importing foreign workers on H-1B visas instead of hiring Americans who are qualified and available to do the job,” DeSantis declared. “We will...

Several illegal Indian migrant workers who were recently deported from the US have recounted their ordeal to BBC Punjabi, describing humiliation, debt and shattered dreams. At least 54 men, who had entered the US through the "donkey route" - often used by traffickers to facilitate illegal crossings - landed in the country's capital Delhi on Sunday. -snip- Of the 54 deportees who returned on Sunday, BBC Punjabi met 15 men in Haryana's Kaithal district who say they are now uncertain about their future. Harjinder Singh, a farmer who had spent 3.5m rupees (£29,653; $39,624) to go to the US four...

A 21-year-old Indian truck driver, Jashanpreet Singh, accused of causing an eight-vehicle crash in Southern California that killed three people, appeared in a US court without his turban—sparking outrage in India. Many, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, demanded that his turban be returned. A petition has also been launched, describing Singh's bareheaded court appearance as "a violation of Sikh faith" and urging authorities to "restore his religious rights and ensure a fair trial." -snip- Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal, in a post on X, said he met the family of the accused,...

An Indian man who was in the United States illegally is in custody after a stabbing that took place aboard an airliner on Saturday. Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, is charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, according to a Department of Justice news release. The incident took place aboard a Lufthansa flight from Chicago that had been scheduled to land in Frankfurt, Germany. The incident took place while the plane was over the Atlantic, according to MassNewsLive....

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not go to a regional leaders summit in Malaysia this week to avoid meeting President Donald Trump and having possible conversations about Pakistan, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. Modi was at first supposed to go to the meeting in person, but he changed his plans at the last minute and decided to attend virtually, according to Business Recorder. Indian officials were concerned that Trump would again bring up his claim that he mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May, the sources said, according to...

Indian national has been charged with allegedly stabbing two minor victims with a metal fork while on board a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany. Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, is charged in U.S. District Court with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. According to the charging documents, on Oct. 25, 2025, while on board Lufthansa flight 431 en route from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, Usiripalli allegedly stabbed a 17-year-old male passenger (Minor A) in the shoulder area with...

In a significant crackdown on human trafficking, the United States has deported 54 Indian nationals who entered the country through illegal routes. The group landed in New Delhi on Sunday evening aboard flight OAE-4767 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. All of them belong to various districts in Haryana. The deportation has prompted Indian authorities to intensify their investigation into the notorious human smuggling network known as the “Donkey Route.” -snip- According to statements from some deported individuals, they were forced to pass through over ten countries, including Guyana, Brazil, Peru, Panama, and Mexico, before being detained at the U.S....

"My feet are swollen. I was shackled for 25 hours (on the flight)," said 45-year-old Harjinder Singh, who was part of the latest batch of Indians deported by the US. Expressing his ordeal, Singh also said he spent Rs 35 lakh to migrate to the US for a better life but his dreams of doing something good for the family are dashed now. The latest batch of illegal migrants included around 50 people from Haryana's Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Jind and Panipat districts, officials said. A plane carrying them landed at the Delhi airport late on Saturday night. The...

The dream of a better life in the US has ended for Harjinder Singh of Jagoli village in Ambala, who was deported on Sunday after being caught for illegal stay. Harjinder, who went to the US in 2021, said he had dreamt of working hard and earning well for his family’s future. But his hopes were crushed when US authorities deported him under the Trump administration’s policy of removing illegal immigrants. “They should have deported us with dignity instead of sending us in chains. We remained in chains for nearly 25 hours. There is swelling in my legs and other...

As the Trump administration makes moves to change the H-1B visa program to benefit American-born workers, Skillstorm CEO Justin Vianello backed those efforts in an interview with Fox News Digital while offering his expertise on other issues that need to be addressed with work visas. Vianello told Fox News Digital that one of the "biggest challenges" with the current H1B system is the "impact" on college hiring, particularly with computer science and computer engineering graduates. Vianello explained that the unemployment rate for college graduates with those degrees is significantly higher than the average for all college graduates -snip- Vianello went...

US entrepreneur and former Dogecoin adviser James Fishback has called for a complete halt on hiring skilled workers from India and other countries, saying American companies should focus on local talent instead. Fishback, who leads the investment firm Azoria and has previously worked with Elon Musk, said in a post on X that major technology companies are giving jobs to people from India and China while qualified Americans struggle to find opportunities. US companies “not looking for Americans” “Here’s the ugly truth: they’re not even looking for Americans. They refuse to interview them. They hide job postings in obscure newspapers...

Two of the three victims killed in a fiery semi-truck crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien in Southern California on Tuesday have been identified as an assistant basketball coach and his wife. The San Bernardino County Coroner's office identified two of the victims in the crash as 76-year-old Clarence Nelson of Fontana, and his wife, 69-year-old Lisa Nelson, saying both were pronounced dead at the scene. State senator Susan Rubio said in a Facebook post that Nelson was the basketball coach at Pomona High School in Pomona, California. "This week, our community was deeply saddened by the tragic incident...

Like many Americans, James Fishback, the CEO of investment firm Azoria, appears to be highly critical of the H-1B visa because he feels that foreign workers are stealing American jobs. -snip- Fishback, the initial developer of the “DOGE checks” tool, has been publicly denouncing the H-1B program in interviews ever since US President Donald Trump slapped $100k fees on H-1B visas. He has lambasted businesses for employing Indians, especially when they claim they “can't find Americans for these jobs” and are forced to use H-1B visas. Targeting H1-B Visa, Fishback took to X and wrote: “The H-1B scam is hurting...

Hindu American Foundation has taken to social media to share online posts backing anti-Hindu narrative under the guise of H1-B visa criticism. The recent debate has begun after Diwali celebration, which many in the US opposed calling it a result of immigration base that the country maintains. Sharing a few such posts, the Foundation said that so-called H-1B criticism is turning into “online Hinduphobia”. “H1-B criticism morphed into online Hinduphobia and anti-Indian racism. Then city council members and political candidates began calling for mass deportations,” it said. The Foundation added that masked men are now “loitering on sidewalks calling Hindu...

NEW DELHI — India has a teeming population of able-bodied workers, tens of millions more than its employers can accommodate. Many other countries have the opposite problem: more jobs than workers. Today, across India’s government and business sectors, a movement is gaining steam to begin exporting more workers. The idea, which economists call labor mobility, is to connect young Indians to companies in places with shrinking populations where labor shortages are holding back growth. The challenge for India and its partners overseas is the growing opposition to immigration in many countries. Officials are trying to craft policies to make it...