US VP Vance links Christian identity to American jobs, H1B visas

US vice-president J.D. Vance has wrapped the Trump administration’s tightening grip on H-1B visas in the language of faith, arguing that a “true” Christian politics must protect American jobs from foreign workers — an argument that lands most heavily on Indian professionals, who form the single largest group of H-1B applicants and recipients in the United States.

That context matters. From 15 December, the State Department began enhanced screening of H-1B and dependent H-4 visas, including checks of applicants’ social media profiles. The immediate fallout has been felt most sharply in India: visa interviews postponed by months, professionals stranded after travelling home for stamping, and employers scrambling to cope with unexpected absences.

Compounding the impact, the administration has announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications, a move critics say effectively prices out smaller firms and narrows the pipeline for overseas talent.

It was against this backdrop that Vance on Sunday addressed AmericaFest organised by Turning Point USA — the organisation founded by the late Charlie Kirk — offering a moral framework for the crackdown. “A true Christian politics, it cannot just be about the protection of the unborn or the promotion of the family,” he said, arguing that such values must shape the government’s entire economic philosophy.

That philosophy, Vance suggested, naturally justifies penalising companies that outsource work or recruit abroad. “Why do we penalise corporations that ship American jobs overseas? Because we believe in the inherent dignity of human work,” he said, before turning squarely to visas. The administration, he added, has acted “without the help of Congress” to restrict H-1Bs because it is “wrong for companies to bypass American labour just to go for cheaper options in the third world”.

Vance capped his remarks with a flourish designed to please the crowd: “The only thing that is truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.” The applause was enthusiastic; the online pushback predictable.

What complicates the sermon is the record of President Donald Trump himself. Trump has long spoken out of both sides on H-1Bs — railing against “cheap foreign labour” while at other moments praising “high-skilled” immigrants and conceding that US companies depend on specialised global talent. The rhetoric thunders; the policy zigzags.

This time, however, the administration’s actions have landed firmly on the restrictive side, regardless of occasional soothing remarks from the president.

There is also an irony that Vance did not address. The vice-president is married to Usha Vance, a US-born lawyer of Indian origin and a practising Hindu — precisely the community most affected by the H-1B restrictions he now frames as a moral crusade. While no one suggests spouses must share faith or politics, the contrast between Vance’s invocation of America as an eternally Christian nation and his own multicultural family life underscores how selectively that vision is applied, particularly when immigration becomes a convenient target.

Social media reaction reflected the divide. One user argued that “American labour is often nonexistent or so sub par that they’re useless”, puncturing the assumption that a domestic workforce is readily available to replace specialised foreign hires. Others echoed Vance’s line, complaining that millions of jobs are being shipped to India, the Philippines and other developing countries and insisting it “needs to stop”.

Policy analysts struck a less absolutist note. Greg Lawson, a US-based analyst specialising in immigration and labour-market policy, said the H-1B programme does require reform because it is often misused by large corporations to suppress wages. But, he added, “appropriately structured and policed”, the programme remains essential for ensuring the US can attract top-tier global talent. Higher minimum salaries and greater labour mobility for visa holders, Lawson argued, would blunt abuse without gutting the system.

For now, Indian professionals — drawn from the world’s largest H-1B applicant pool — are bearing the brunt of a policy push that mixes theology, protectionism and presidential ambiguity. As Vance preaches moral certainty and Trump projects toughness while keeping his options open, those caught in the visa pipeline are left navigating a system where clarity is scarce, but consequences are immediate.

With AP/PTI inputs