Will gut H1-B visa system: Ramaswamy

WASHINGTON: Describing the H-1B visa programme as a form of “indentured servitude”, Indian-American Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to “gut” the lottery-based system and replace it with meritocratic admission if he wins the race to the White House in 2024.

The irony was not lost on any, as Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, has used the H-1B route as many as 29 times from 2018 to 2023. Yet, fancying himself to be the master of the White House, the 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur now believes the system is “bad for everyone involved”.

“The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H-1B immigrant. I’ll gut it,” Ramaswamy said in a statement, adding that the US needs to eliminate chain-based migration.

“The people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who make skills-based contributions to this country.” Ramaswamy stepped down as chief executive officer of Roivant in February 2021 but remained the chair of the company’s board of directors until February this year when he announced his presidential campaign.

When asked about the mismatch in the Republican presidential hopeful’s policy stance and his past business practices, his press secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the role of a policymaker “is to do what’s right for a country overall: the system is broken and needs to be fixed.”

“Vivek believes that regulations overseeing the US energy sector are badly broken, but he still uses water and electricity,” she said in a statement. “This is the same.” Ramaswamy, who is himself the child of immigrants, has captured headlines for his restrictionist immigration policy agenda, and comments that he would use military to secure the border, and that he would deport US-born children of undocumented immigrants – all of which play to the swelling gallery of Donald Trump supporters.