The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday criticised US Vice-President JD Vance's description of foreign workers as "indentured servants", calling the terminology "deeply offensive" and saying it ignores the contributions of Indian professionals to the American economy and innovation ecosystem.
On Vance's comments on green card programme, the MEA said that Indian professionals in US are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy, innovation adding that resorting to terminology carrying painful historical, colonial legacy deeply offensive.
Here's full statement from the MEA
It should be noted that PERM is distinct from the H-1B visa programme. The suspension of PERM applications does not, by itself, affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of H-1B visa holders and their dependents, though there could be some impact on the permanent-residency/Green Card process of eligible employees of the affected companies.
3. It should also be clear that talent mobility adds value to both economies. While it creates opportunities for Indians, it equally helps US companies with cutting-edge talent, innovation, research, productivity, competitiveness and job creation, besides creating shareholder wealth in the US. This is therefore an area of tremendous mutual benefit for the two countries and our expectation is that all stakeholders in this process can appreciate this fact. The steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries.
4. We have also seen some comments in this context by the US Vice President. We believe that such descriptions are unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem. Indeed, the history of the United States itself has been shaped by generations of immigrants whose labour, enterprise and innovation have contributed to its growth and prosperity. Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive.
5. We continue to follow developments around this issue.
What Is PERM?
Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) is the electronic system and process managed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The US on Thursday suspended IT firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, which allows companies to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers.
The Trump administration is also suspending tech giant Microsoft from a programme to apply for green cards for workers who come to the US to live and work using an H-1B visa. Vice President JD Vance accuses the company of fraud.
Vance said, "If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants." Vance spoke in a White House news conference announcing the decision. The H-1B programme has long been a target of President Donald Trump's supporters who say the programme undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.
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