Immigration attorney Rahul Reddy has challenged the growing social media narrative that Indians in the United States only hire other Indians or H-1B visa holders. Speaking during his weekly immigration update alongside Emily Neumann, Reddy highlighted that despite founding the Reddy-Neumann Brown law firm in 1997, none of his current partners are Indian. The firm's partners include Krystal Alanis, Rebecca Chen, Emily Neumann, Steven Brown, and Ryan Wilck.
Whistleblower Campaign Targets H-1B Employers
Reddy's comments come as Texas whistleblower Sara Gonzales has been actively hunting down H-1B employers, often knocking on doors of Indian-origin hirers. Many of these are staffing companies that hire H-1B workers from India for other clients, resulting in registered offices with no employees. Gonzales, through her YouTube videos, has confronted some hirers, revealing that they lacked complete answers to her questions.
University Lawsuit Fuels Controversy
Another incident that fueled the 'Indians only hire Indians' narrative was a lawsuit filed by Chinese-American assistant professor Dr. Sean Wang against Southern Methodist University in Texas. Wang accused department head Dr. Hemang Desai of favoring only Indian candidates.
Reddy remarked, "Social media vigilantes are doing a lot of homework, which we like, before they go after some people. But the way they are projecting is like if there is an Indian manager, he will only hire Indians or H-1Bs. I founded my law firm, but none of my partners is Indian."
Fraud Exists But System Not Wholly Bad
Emily Neumann acknowledged that fraud exists within the H-1B program, as it does in any government scheme, but stressed that this does not mean the entire process is flawed or that all participants are bad actors. She pointed out that the U.S. government has declared a shortage of STEM skills and encourages American citizens to pursue STEM degrees. However, demand remains high, and companies often cannot find enough U.S. citizens with STEM qualifications.
"A wrong picture is given on social media about H-1Bs, and we want to correct that," Reddy added.
The attorneys emphasized that while vigilance against fraud is important, the broader narrative unfairly paints all Indian managers and H-1B workers negatively. They called for a more balanced understanding of the program's role in addressing skill shortages in the U.S. economy.
