Comedian Hasan Minhaj has dropped his latest YouTube video discussing the U.S. H-1B visa controversy, explaining that understanding MAGA’s opposition to H-1B is key to understanding the future of the Republican Party. Minhaj said the most important “M” word for the government was not “MAGA” or “Mamdani” but “merit”, which distinguished between documented and undocumented immigrants. But Minhaj said the lines blurred during the second Trump administration, which began with a major “MAGA” dispute over the H-1B issue, Minhaj said, looking back on the H-1B controversy. “I mean, literally, our country was founded by third world invaders who were looking for India. Now we show up and now you’re angry. I mean, we did come with the spices you were looking for. Think of it like a door dash that took 400 years,” Minhaj said.
Tech billionaires and MAGA’s nativist faction
Minhaj explained how there are two sides to this H-1B dispute, pitting tech billionaires who believe H-1Bs can hire top talent against the MAGA nativist faction spearheaded by the likes of Steve Bannon. Minhaj then touched on the issue of H-1B abuse, citing news clips about the H-1B. He played a 2017 interview with Bruce Morrison, the MP who introduced the original bill, who said the bill was being abused by exploiting loopholes.
Big green card energy: Vivek, Usha, Nikki, Kash
Minhaj said that the Republican Party does not hate Indians because some of the party’s big figures are Indians, such as Vivek Ramaswamy, Usha Vance, Nikki Haley and Kash Patel. They were not born in India, but Minhaj said that they have strong green card energy and they say that the United States is not a racist country. President Donald Trump also took no action against H-1Bs until last September when he imposed a $100,000 fee, Minhaj said. His H-1B joke even led to speculation that Trump might not want to impose H-1B fees because he has never done so in the past, but now he has to because of Gen Z conservatives. Minjaj said many H-1B haters were auditioning for his position after Charlie Kirk’s death, naming Natalie Winters and Brett Cooper. They even appeared on any Turning America show, Minhaj said, adding that Vivek was torn to pieces by this Turning Point crowd but not Vice President J.D. Vance because he knew how to handle this crowd by throwing his Hindu wife under the bus. Minhaj then turns to Nalin Haley and his staunch H-1B opposition, and how this has turned into a culture war. Minhaj said that MAGA doesn’t want merit, they want preferential treatment of American traditions, such as hierarchy, caste system, which is the most Indian approach.