Such was the fear and hate for Communists in the US, spouses used to spy on their partners. That same paranoia now seems to have been reserved for Indian techies. But how did Indians, who helped build Silicon Valley, become such subject of hate?
Generalisation is a form of prejudice, and America, despite its power and what it promises, has had many such prejudices over the decades. Today, that prejudice has turned against Indian techies. Soon after the Second World War, in the 1950s and the 60s, Americans feared the Soviet communists. Decade after decade, the paranoia kept shifting — from African-Americans, to homosexuals, to Hispanic crowds in the US, to Asians, everyone has been on target.
Today, the hostility toward desi techies is such that they almost seem like “counterparts” of the Communists of yesteryears. The suspicion and hate, similar to what was once reserved for the Communists, are now directed at Indian techies, who gave America its global tech giant character of today. Though the techies are the polar opposite of the “commies” — they have bourgeois aspirations, their “American Dream” was conceived in middle school, and they would most likely slog in NR Narayana Murthy’s 72-hour work week instead of the Left-championed eight-hour shifts.
Today, Indian techies, who hold the top positions in US firms and lead innovation in Silicon Valley, are under attack from the Trump administration. US President Donald Trump, in a bid to please its Maga supporter base, is going all out against the engineers and coders from India. The visa scheme that brought them to America, the H-1B, is facing unprecedented scrutiny today. From a $100,000 fee for new H-1B entrants, strict social media vetting, and fierce racism, the hurdles are too many.
The fear that Indian techies are taking away jobs from Americans has now blended with the rise in general anti-immigrant sentiment in the US.
Racism against Indians in general is on the rise too. On Christmas, American journalist and right-wing activist Matt Forney openly warned of targeted attacks against Indians and Hindu temples in 2026, and suggested that all of its members be deported back to India.
It’s almost like a flashback from the Cold War era, when communists of the USSR, China, Cuba, and East Germany, were hated and feared so much in the US that even spouses would spy on their partners, thinking they might be hiding a crimson core under their white skin.
Think of Indian techies in the US as their Great Lakes — they support the biodiversity and the ecosystem in the heart of America. With that analogy, Maga’s theory about Indians stealing Americans’ jobs is like a layer of ice on top of the lakes — the stretch might be kilometres wide, but it’s likely only a few inches deep. It’s as absurd as saying a rose is red because it’s communist.
Though it is clear that Maga’s arguments against Indian techies — calling them “job stealers”, “low-skilled workforce”, and calling the H-1B visa scheme a “scam” — are shallow, India Today Digital spoke to techies and activists in the US to understand how and why this narrative has suddenly blown up, and the things they have faced in America after Trump came to power this year.
