H-1B visa holders are the latest victims in a long string of vicious attacks against immigrants. The ruling class is desperate to divide workers and pit us against each other as living standards continue to decline under the crumbling capitalist system and quality jobs are increasingly difficult to come by.
The most recent attempt to set native-born American workers against Indian immigrants is yet another red herring designed to distract us from the real culprits—the capitalists themselves.
“Foreign invaders”
The MAGA constituency is often portrayed as a homogenous bloc of racist reactionaries, but the H-1B debacle is one among many recent examples of significant splits within the Trump camp.
The controversy began when Trump appointed Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American venture capitalist, to advise him on Artificial Intelligence. Krishnan advocates lifting caps on the number of Indians who can obtain H-1B visas, which allow American companies to hire foreign workers in “specialty occupations” requiring specific skills and education.
Krishnan’s appointment sparked outrage among some Trumpists, who slandered Indian workers as “foreign invaders” and “thieves” and accused The Donald of violating his “America First” promises. Trump was himself once a harsh critic of H-1B visa workers, but he changed his tune in December, declaring himself a “believer in H-1B.”
Not to be outdone, Bernie Sanders joined the fray, calling for reform of H-1B visas and attempting to put a “left” spin on the chauvinistic tone set by the right. / Image: Brookings Institution, Flcikr
What’s behind his flip-flop? Decisions made by the ruling class are dictated not by morals, but by interests. It was in Trump’s interest to drum up anti-immigrant hatred to help get elected, but he understands that the big-tech magnates in his inner circle rely on H-1B workers to keep wages down in their industry.
Fellow billionaires Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk joined in, voicing support for the H-1B visas and spewing platitudes about the mediocrity and laziness of American workers. Add this to the long list of billionaires whining about how “nobody wants to work anymore.” The reality is people are working harder than ever, with labor productivity near all-time highs while wages have stagnated for decades.
“American workers first”
Not to be outdone, Bernie Sanders joined the fray, calling for reform of H-1B visas and attempting to put a “left” spin on the chauvinistic tone set by the right: “The answer . . . is not to bring in cheap labor from abroad . . . The answer is to hire qualified American workers first.”
Sanders—and the rest of the liberal left—adapt themselves to what is “realistic” within the confines of capitalism. But adding the word “workers” in the middle of Trump’s favorite slogan will help neither American-born nor Indian-born workers.
United class struggle is the only path forward for workers, regardless of where they were born. Stagnant wages, poor job prospects, diminishing benefits, and longer hours are not the fault of immigrants. They are the result of a decaying capitalist system.
If workers fall prey to the chauvinistic attitude of the right and soft left, it will only serve to splinter the world working class, preventing us from uniting the only class force capable of overthrowing capitalism.
As Marx famously said, “the workers have no country.” Communists don’t accept the limits of capitalism. American workers have more in common with exploited workers around the world than with our “own” ruling class. It is in the interest of workers everywhere to overthrow the capitalist system, end discrepancies in pay, protections, and benefits between native-born and foreign workers, and democratically plan an economy based on human need rather than the pursuit of profit.