A Silicon Valley investor's recent remarks mocking a call to prioritize hiring American workers over foreign labor have ignited a firestorm, drawing sharp criticism from Trump administration officials and renewing a debate over the H-1B visa program and U.S. hiring practices.
Ankit Gupta, a general partner at startup accelerator Y Combinator, reportedly derided Vice President JD Vance's stance on prioritizing American workers, likening it to "DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in now-restricted posts on X, formerly Twitter. This commentary emerged in the context of the Trump administration's proposed $103,265 fee for many new H-1B visa petitions. The H-1B program allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for specialized roles and is frequently utilized by the tech industry.
Vance has been a vocal proponent of the policy shift, stating, "If an American corporation needs workers, it should hire and train Americans." The proposed fee aims to make the H-1B program more costly for companies, potentially incentivizing them to hire U.S. citizens.
Gupta's comments prompted swift condemnation from several figures associated with the Trump administration. Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito responded on X, stating, "Ankit Gupta thinks hiring Americans first—in America—is ‘DEI.’ No, Ankit. It’s called putting your own citizens first. American companies. American jobs. American workers first. If that offends you, the problem isn’t America. It’s your sense of entitlement."
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson criticized Gupta's rhetoric as indicative of a broader "contempt for American workers." He added, "I’m deeply uncomfortable with wealthy investors attacking American workers like this. I’m afraid it’s increasingly obvious to many people that individuals such as this guy do not have the best interests of America and her citizens in mind."
Y Combinator President and CEO Garry Tan, in response to Ferguson's post, affirmed, "YC supports hiring and funding Americans."
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon also weighed in, detailing what she described as abuses within the H-1B program and other foreign worker visa schemes. Dhillon argued that many companies prefer cheaper foreign labor, sometimes circumventing standard hiring channels and favoring foreign-born managers who allegedly "pipeline cheap foreign labor from body-shop mills over American workers."
Legal experts and former Trump administration officials also commented on the matter. John Miano, an attorney with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), framed the dispute as a fundamental question about the nation's purpose, suggesting that Gupta views America as an "economic zone" rather than a "commonwealth for the improvement of its citizens."
Miano further contended that the H-1B program is designed to allow employers to hire foreign workers at low wages, effectively replacing American workers. "The U.S. Congress is apparently the only national legislature that has voted to make it explicitly legal to replace citizens with foreign workers, as it has done with H-1B," he said.
Mary Marslender, a former Trump appointee and Republican consultant, alleged that tech companies exploit loopholes to avoid hiring Americans, including placing job ads in obscure publications and seeking legal grounds to disqualify American applicants. "Prioritizing cheap foreign labor over American workers denies Americans jobs, particularly young people who need the firsthand job experience to launch their careers," she stated.
Theo Wold, a former acting assistant attorney general under Trump, highlighted America's historical legacy of native talent, citing inventors like Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce. Wold argued that today's Silicon Valley elites would rather hire foreign nationals on H-1B visas than invest in American talent, despite the nation graduating enough STEM students to fill available positions.