‘One Indian District Got 220,000 Visas’: Dave Brat Claims H-1B Programme Hijacked by Industrial-Scale Scam
US economist exposes alleged massive visa fraud scheme.
Former US Congressman and economist Dr Dave Brat has accused the H-1B visa programme of being hijacked by industrial-scale fraud, claiming that the US Consulate in Chennai alone processed more than 220,000 H-1B visas in 2024, exceeding the entire annual US statutory cap of 85,000 visas by over two-and-a-half times.
Speaking on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Brat highlighted the stark disparity in origin countries, noting that 71 per cent of all H-1B visas are issued to Indian nationals compared to just 12 per cent from China, and singled out Chennai, which serves Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, as the epicentre of what he described as an organised scam undermining American workers.
Brat alleged that many recipients falsely present themselves as highly skilled professionals while lacking genuine qualifications, directly displacing American citizens from technology jobs and threatening family livelihoods, stating bluntly that each questionable visa “just took away your family’s job and your mortgage”.
Also Read: U.S. Launches 175 Investigations Into H-1B Visa Abuse Under Project Firewall
His explosive claims are bolstered by testimony from Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-origin former US Foreign Service officer who served at the Chennai consulate from 2005-2007, when it was already one of the world’s largest H-1B processing centres; she asserted that 80-90 per cent of Indian H-1B applications involved fraudulent documentation, fabricated credentials, proxy interviews, and bribery.
As the incoming Trump administration intensifies scrutiny of the skilled-worker visa system, these allegations have reignited fierce debate over the programme’s integrity, with critics arguing that systemic loopholes at certain overseas consulates have enabled widespread abuse and turned a merit-based pathway into a conduit for large-scale deception.
Also Read: ‘Don’t Shut Out Indian Talent’: Congressmen Urge Trump to Protect H-1B Pathway
