There is a raging debate going on between the patriot Americans from elected president Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) party and his appointed DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) members, billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The debate is over the issue of legal migration by mainly Indians using the H1B visa program. The MAGA republicans want to end or at the very least reform this program drastically because of its misuse by Indian companies in Silicon Valley. Indian companies and Indian hiring managers in these companies are using this program to slowly replace native born American workers (see this, and this). The likes of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are arguing that without the highly skilled Indian workers America will become a losing team in terms of business and profit. MAGA republicans are reminding Elon Musk that America is not some NBA basketball team, but it is their homeland; their nation which their forefathers built for themselves. They do not want their homeland to be replaced by foreigners, and especially being turned into another India.
In this article I am going to offer a solution which should make both these feuding parties happy.
Instead of Americans opening up their borders for cheap Indian labor it is better for the Indian government to open their borders for businesses like Elon Musk’s companies Tesla and SpaceX. One of the major reasons why Indian workers are moving out of India is US dollar and its exchange rate against Indian rupee. The second biggest reason is the prevailing very high unemployment in India. The high unemployment rate in India is caused by the erratic and irrational policies of the Modi government. Decades long policies like demonetization, botched implementation of the Goods and Services Tax regime, wrecking of institutions like the RBI, the Draconian Covid-19 era country wide lockdowns for months, and rampant corruption everywhere which has wrecked the economy and the labor market.
One of the few times the Indian economy experienced growth and progress after independence happened due to the liberal economic reforms implemented by Narsimha Rao and Manmohan Sign governments. Narendra Modi reversed these reforms and started erecting protectionist policies of the Nehru era. The very Nehru era that made India bankrupt and forced the Rao government to carry out liberal reforms and opening up of the Indian economy for foreign competition. Those who are arguing for America to open its borders for foreign completion forget that India has been increasingly becoming an autarkic economy since Modi came to power in 2014. It is India more than America that needs to reopen its borders for goods and foreign labor. American borders are already wide open both for goods and legal or illegal migrants. Modi government’s planning commission former vice chairman Arvind Panagaria warned about this rising protectionism in India under Modi regime before resigning from his position. In his 2018 Economic Times article he sounded the alarm bells saying,
A new generation of babus seems to have now replaced its more enlightened predecessor. It is about to erect the wall of protection all over again.
Every economic, social, cultural, political, etc., argument that we can make in favor of free trade applies more to India than America. In overall human freedom index America is way ahead of India. By opening up its borders for foreign goods and labor India will be able to better the standard of living of its people. People with differing values will bring much needed cultural diversity in the monotonous stagnated culture of India. We have to remember that almost all leaders of Indian independence struggle studied abroad and came back home with Western ideas of liberty and justice. Raja Rammohan Roy who is known as the father of modern India was impressed by the cultural values of the Western civilization which he brought to India.
Modi opening up India’s borders for foreign goods and businesses is the most amicable solution of this raging debate between the patriot Americans and Indian government and migrants. Indian foreign ministry spokesman has said that,
Our countries have a strong and growing economic and technological partnership and within this ambit, mobility of skilled professionals is an important component.
As I have said, this mobility will be maintained when India opens its borders instead of only one way mobility from India to America. India opening its borders means Indians will not have to leave their home country to work abroad in America. Indian skilled and unskilled workers can find work near their home where their families and ancient cultural roots are. NRI Indians can return to their homeland if Modi opens the borders for foreign businesses.
If Modi opens the borders for foreign goods, labor, and businesses then the H1B visa issue will end. If he decides to keep India closed then one day Indian migrants in foreign countries will face expulsion like what happened in Uganda. They also face danger to their lives as their own actions of abusing the White race on social media platforms is waking up the Westerners about the realities of how Indians really view them; abusing their host nation’s people while they are guests.
The peaceful solution of this problem now solely lies in the hands of Narendra Modi. Americans can have their home for themselves and Indians can have their home for themselves. Indians would no longer need to go to USA, and Americans would no longer will have to worry about Indians coming to their homeland.
