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Subu Kota, founder and Chairman of The Boston Group, U.S.A., making a point during an interaction with The Hindu in Hyderabad.
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Amid speculation over H-1B policy and days ahead of Donald Trump’s Presidential oath-taking ceremony in the United States of America, the IT industry feels there will be tougher measures on illegal immigrants. The President-elect will ignore the negative impact of such a measure and walk the talk on illegal immigrants, opine industry leaders.

Speaking exclusively to The Hindu here, the Non-Resident Indian from Andhra Pradesh and founder and Chairman of The Boston Group (1988), U.S.A., Subu Kota says, ‘‘Mr. Trump is back with the motto of controlling illegal immigration. He has a challenging task of fixing the problem. How to fix it, and getting the decision passed through the Congress is not a simple thing.’‘

Data | Republican party supporters and Donald Trump’s team disagree on H1B immigration debate 

‘’But is it practical? It’s not. Would he do that? To prove a point, he would do that. In the recent times, even though he hasn’t taken the oath, he has sent several plane loads of people to Brazil and several plane loads of people to India also,” he adds.

Mr. Subu Kota, who belongs to the first generation NRIs, started The Boston Group and brought thousands of Indian software professionals through H1B process to the U.S.A. since late 1980s, while Infosys has done the same thing from India. He is also closely associated with the US politics and involved in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. He was in Hyderabad to attend KATALYST, a global entrepreneurs summit by the American Progressive Telugu Association last week-end.

Uncertainty

‘’What could happen to the Indian programmers during Trump era is a question mark because nobody has touched the aspect of immigration in the past 35 years. No matter how many Presidents changed, the Congress has not agreed on what is the right thing to do in immigration,’‘ he says.

‘’The H-1B has benefited several Indians, especially Telugu people, and contributed a lot to the U.S. and Indian economies. Controlling illegal immigration in the U.S., though may not be practical, would open up multiple opportunities to Indian youth in legal immigration, gives access to best of career opportunities in the U.S. and will be a game changer,’‘ observes Mr. Subu Kota, who hails from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

Burden on people

“Mr. Trump said he will send back all the illegal immigrants but it’s not practical as most of them have become a part of the workforce in America. So, sending them back means enhanced employment costs and price rise which could be an unnecessary burden on people. But, unlike other Presidents, Mr. Trump thinks out of the box, he says out of box and he does also,” he explains.

Also Read | Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, debate on H1B visas intensifies

Dependable workforce

On the U.S. view of Indian immigrants, he says, way back, the Press in the U.S. called the H-1B process a brain drain from India. Now the U.S. economy thinks they can count on India as a partner in manufacturing and other aspects. “Over a period of time, we became product and technical support for the industry, and later technical support for local leaders. If a President was addressing, most probably the presentation was made by one of our people. Technology-wise, they depended on us. We became directors but never became Presidents. Over the years, we earned the trust and credibility because of our discipline and hard work. Now, we are leading over 10% of the Fortune 500 companies. We have leadership such as Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Google’s Sundar Pichai and several to name,” Mr. Subu Kota sums up.

Donald Trump has in the past criticised the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

President-elect Donald Trump appears to be siding with Elon Musk and his other backers in the tech industry as a dispute over immigration visas has divided his supporters.

Mr. Trump, in an interview with the New York Post on Saturday (December 28, 2024), praised the use of visas to bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. The topic has become a flashpoint within his conservative base.

“I have always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Mr. Trump said.

In fact, Mr. Trump has in the past criticised the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. During his first term as President, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants.

Despite his criticism of them and attempts to curb their use, he has also used the visas at his businesses in the past, something he acknowledged in his interview Saturday (December 28, 2024).

“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” Mr. Trump told the newspaper.

He did not appear to address questions about whether he would pursue any changes to the number or use of the visas once he takes office January 20, 2025.

Mr. Trump’s hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters.

Editorial | Visa politics: On Trump’s immigration policy

But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate largely taking place online about the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers. Hard-right members of Mr. Trump’s movement have accused Mr. Musk and others in Mr. Trump’s new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Mr. Trump’s “America First” vision.

Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated.