Former US Representative and economist Dr Dave Brat has alleged widespread fraud within the H1B visa programme, claiming that one Indian district received more than twice the number of visas legally allowed nationwide. His remarks come as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on the visa category.
Speaking on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Brat argued that the system had been “captured by industrial-scale fraud” and suggested that visa issuances from India had reached levels inconsistent with statutory caps.
“71 per cent of H1B visas come from India, and only 12 per cent from China. That tells you something’s going on right there,” Brat said. “There’s a cap of only 85,000 H1B visas, yet somehow one district in India – the Madras (Chennai) district – got 220,000. That’s 2.5 times the cap Congress has set. So that’s the scam.”
Dr Dave Brat Calls This H1B Issue A Fraud, Threat To Domestic Employment
He further framed the issue as a threat to domestic employment. “When one of these folks comes over and claims they’re skilled – they’re not, that’s the fraud. They’re taking away your family’s job, your mortgage, your house, all of that,” Brat added.
DR. DAVE BRAT: 71% of H-1B visas come from India. The national cap is 85,000, yet one Indian district got 220,000! That’s 2.5x the limit!
When you hear H-1B, think of your family, because these fraudulent visas just stole their future.@brateconomics pic.twitter.com/8O1v8qVJPe
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) November 24, 2025
According to reports, the US consulate in Chennai processed approximately 220,000 H-1B visas and an additional 140,000 H-4 dependent visas in 2024. The facility serves applicants from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana, making it one of the world’s busiest H1B processing centres.
Earlier Allegations of Systemic H1B Abuse
Brat’s comments have revived earlier claims made by Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-origin US Foreign Service Officer who previously worked at the Chennai consulate. In an interview, she described the H-1B system as vulnerable to forged credentials, fake qualifications and proxy applicants.
Siddiqui said she adjudicated at least 51,000 non-immigrant visas between 2005 and 2007 – most of them H-1Bs. “80–90 per cent of the H-1B visas from India were fake – either fake degrees or forged documents, or applicants who were simply not highly skilled,” she said.
She alleged that Hyderabad, particularly the Ameerpet area, had become a hotspot, claiming that shops there openly coached applicants and sold fraudulent employment letters, educational certificates and even marriage documents.
H1Bs’ Significance for the US Tech Workforce
The H1B visa enables US employers to hire foreign professionals in specialised fields, especially technology. Indian nationals continue to dominate the category, accounting for around 70 per cent of visa holders in 2024, making India the largest source of skilled workers entering the US labour market.
Both H1B and F-1 student visas have increasingly drawn criticism from MAGA-aligned political figures who argue that the programmes are exploited and disadvantage American workers.
Despite growing scrutiny, US President Donald Trump has recently voiced support for the H-1B programme, saying the United States requires global talent to address workforce shortages.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
