Summary:
- Former Rep. Dave Brat alleges large-scale H-1B visa fraud linked to India.
- Claims Chennai consulate issued 220,000 visas, far above the 85,000 cap.
- Former U.S. diplomat reported forged documents, political pressure at same consulate.
ECONOMIST AND FORMER U.S. Rep. Dave Brat alleged fraud in India’s H-1B visa system, claiming the Chennai consulate issued more than twice the legally permitted number of visas nationwide. He said on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast that while the national H-1B cap is 85,000, the Chennai consulate processed about 220,000 visas—2.5 times the limit.
Brat said the H-1B system was “captured by fraud,” asserting that visa allocations from India exceeded statutory limits, according to the Times of India.
"About 71 percent of H-1B visas come from India and only 12 percent from China," Brat said. "That tells you something’s going on right there. There’s a cap of 85,000 H-1B visas, yet one district in India—the Madras district—got 220,000. That’s 2.5 times the cap Congress has set. So that’s the scam."
Brat framed the issue as a direct threat to American workers.
"When one of these folks comes over and claims they're skilled—they're not; that's the fraud,” he said. “They're taking away your family's job, your mortgage, your house, all of that."
The U.S. consulate in Chennai, covering Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, processed about 220,000 H-1B visas and 140,000 H-4 dependent visas in 2024, the Times reported.Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-origin U.S. foreign service officer, described the H-1B system as rife with forged documents, fake qualifications and proxy applicants on a podcast, India Today reported.
She served at the Chennai consulate from 2005 to 2007 and said that during her tenure as a consular officer, they detected fraud and informed the secretary of state, but no action was taken due to "political pressure."
"We quickly learned about the fraud," she said. "We wrote a dissent cable to the secretary of state detailing the systematic fraud we uncovered, but due to political pressure from the top, our adjudication was overturned."
U.S. President Donald Trump signaled support for the H-1B visa program, saying the U.S. needs global talent to fill workforce gaps, drawing backlash from MAGA supporters, ABC News reported.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has a nuanced view on H-1B visas and opposes replacing American workers, according to Outlook India.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she plans to introduce a bill ending the H-1B visa program and its pathway to citizenship, requiring workers to leave when their visas expire. Meanwhile, the Trump administration reportedly directed U.S. visa officers to consider obesity and certain long-term health conditions in reviews that can lead to visa denials.
NB: We are waiting for a statement from the Indian government.
