'Visa cartel has its own visa temple': US Senator targets Indians, Hyderabad's Balaji temple over H1-B visas

United States senator Eric Schmitt has blamed the "Visa Cartel" for "displacing US workers, suppressing wages, and hollowing out America's middle class" through programs like H-1B, L-1, F-1, and OPT.

In line with President Donald Trump's America first policies and the crackdown on immigrants in the US, Schmitt, in a long post on X, accused big tech companies of laying off thousands of US workers "while filling thousands of H-1B requests for identical roles."

The post also featured the "Visa Temple" of Hyderabad, a 500-year-old shrine near city's Osman Sagar Lake. The Chilkur Balaji Temple, is famous for attracting thousands of devotees, mostly IT professionals and students, seeking blessings for US visa approvals, giving it the "Visa Temple" name.

"The 'Visa Cartel' has its own 'Visa Temple' in Hyderabad, which sees thousands of Indians circling altars and getting passports blessed for US work visas. American workers shouldn’t have to compete against a system this gamed," the Senator wrote.

He called F-1 visas that allow international students to pursue full-time academic or language programs at SEVP-certified US colleges, universities, or schools, "silent job killers".

"Foreign students (India accounted for almost half) get taxpayer-subsidized work permits, corporations get no payroll taxes or wage rules. They flow into H-1B, then green cards, while US grads with debt compete against cheaper labor," said Schmitt.

Sharing a news article on "Indian visa holders sharing confidential interview questions with applicants from India", Schmitt said that merit has now been replaced by "ethnic favoritism."

He further alleged favouritism for Indian candidates in universities and said that an American professor recently sued the Southern Methodist University for systematically preferring Indian-origin candidates for tenure. "100% approval for them, zero for equally qualified non-Indians. This isn’t isolated; it’s the pattern when these networks capture hiring."

He ended the post urging to end the "fraud", and ensuring that American workers are served.

Trump has embarked on a wide-ranging immigration crackdown since taking office, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration.

In September last year, the Trump administration increased US H-1B visa fees to $100,000 per year, while other plans to restrict high-skilled immigration are also in the pipeline.