- Mark Mitchell proposed helping US firms "de-Indianise" their workforce through a new consultancy
- He criticised Indian dominance in the H-1B visa program during a podcast with Stephen Bannon
- Mitchell claimed US tech jobs are lost to foreign-born workers, especially Indian nationals
Mark Mitchell, a leading US commentator and pollster, stirred a row after suggesting that major US firms should "de-Indianise" themselves. He said he wants to launch a consultancy to help corporations with the process. His remarks, posted on X, have sparked social media discussion about the role of Indian professionals in America's technology sector.
"I have never in my life wanted anything more than this: to build a new corporate consultancy helping major firms de-Indianise," Mitchell posted.
The statement came days after Mitchell, the head pollster at Rasmussen Reports, criticised the growing number of Indian professionals in the United States under the H-1B visa programme during a podcast.
Attack On H-1B Visa
Speaking at 'The War Room' podcast with Stephen Bannon, Mitchell hit out at Indian dominance in the H-1B visa programme and said sending back a senior H-1B developer working at top firms like Apple was economically the same as deporting ten illegal aliens.
"But for every single H-1B, you know, senior developer at Apple that we send back, that's the equivalent economically, probably, of deporting ten illegal aliens. So, I don't know why we didn't do that yesterday. And the idea, yes, a lot of these people are entry level, but a lot of them are making a tonne of money," he said in the podcast released on December 8.
The American pollster claimed 12 million American tech workers were left jobless because the "foreign-born workforce" has 'indificated' Silicon Valley.
"Silicon Valley's got some of the highest real estate, the highest real estate in the entire country. Well, its workforce is roughly 2/3 foreign-born. Walmart buildings that were like 85-95% per cent Indian nationals, and so they come in on these, you know, these golden pathways, and they take these jobs," he said.
He also accused the top American tech companies of relying on a low-cost immigrant workforce, which tends to bypass American workers. He claimed senior American engineers are being bypassed by companies because companies have a "bottomless well of younger third-world engineers".
"You know, people like me who have a family, who are a little more expensive, maybe have gotten a few raises. My health insurance is a little more expensive. Really easy to replace me and have me train my replacement," Mitchell said.
"A single H-1B developer earning 90,000 dollars is like importing ten undocumented labourers earning 9 dollars an hour," he added.
Michell's remarks came on the heels of a recent report which showed that around 66 per cent of tech. Among them, 23 per cent were Indians and 18 per cent Chinese.
Remarks Receive Backlash
Michell's "de-Indianise" comment faced backlash on social media, with several users accusing him of racism.
One X user wrote, 'If you said you wanted to make major American firms de-Jew you wouldn't have a career left. However, in the American conservative world it is OK to be openly racist towards a model minority."
Another wrote, "Note that this nut has moved from H-1Bs all the way to 'Indians', meaning even US-born, 2nd-gen Indian-Americans are people he wants to disenfranchise."
"Imagine saying this about ANY other ethnic group. Gee, maybe this is why your employability is limited."
