Tech investor mocks Vance’s call to hire Americans as 'DEI', gets blasted by Trump officials in H-1B firestorm

Ankit Gupta, a partner at the Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, drew fire from several Trump‑era officials after he posted a tweet mocking Vice‑President J.D. Vance’s push to prioritize American workers over cheaper foreign labor.
The exchange began when the Trump administration announced a proposed $103,265 fee for new H‑1B visa petitions—a program that lets U.S. firms hire foreign workers for specialty roles and is most heavily used by the tech industry. Critics say the fee would make it harder for tech companies to rely on foreign labor and could encourage hiring of U.S. workers instead, a point Vance has repeatedly emphasized. “If an American corporation needs workers, it should hire and train Americans,” Vance said in a recent statement.

Gupta’s remarks, which he later made private on X, compared the idea of hiring Americans first to “DEI is back,” a comment that sparked a flurry of criticism from officials who argued his language misrepresented the purpose of prioritizing domestic workers.

Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito took to social media to defend the notion that hiring U.S. citizens is simply a matter of putting one’s own workforce first. “Ankit Gupta thinks hiring Americans first—in America—is ‘DEI.’ No, Ankit. It’s called putting your own citizens first. American companies. American jobs. American workers first. If that offends you, the problem isn’t America. It’s your sense of entitlement,” he wrote.

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson joined the criticism, describing Gupta’s stance as “deeply uncomfortable” and warning that wealthy investors “attacking American workers like this” signals a lack of regard for the country’s labor market. Ferguson said, “The purpose of the American economy is to promote the general welfare of American workers, not provide jobs for the rest of the world.”

In response to Ferguson’s post, Y Combinator President Garry Tan clarified the firm’s position: “YC supports hiring and funding Americans.” Tan’s statement came as Gupta’s comments continued to circulate, with several Trump‑era officials and policy experts weighing in.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon released a lengthy post condemning what she called abuses of the H‑1B program and other foreign‑worker visas. Dhillon alleged that many U.S. tech firms bypass federal and state employment laws by failing to advertise positions through standard channels, channeling low‑cost labor from “body‑shop” vendors, misrepresenting eligibility for no‑cap H‑1B hiring, abusing J‑1, OPT and other visa categories, and even “gaslighting” laid‑off Americans.

The debate over H‑1B visas has long been a point of contention. Some conservatives argue that tech companies exploit the program to bring inexpensive foreign talent—often from India—into roles that could be filled by U.S. workers. The proposed fee would raise the cost of filing new petitions, potentially nudging firms to consider domestic candidates more seriously.

John Miano, attorney for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told Fox News Digital that the controversy touches on deeper questions about America’s identity. “The center of this dispute is over what America is,” Miano said. He described the H‑1B program as “designed to replace Americans with cheap foreign workers” and warned that the U.S. Congress had legislated a system that allows employers to pay foreign workers low wages.

Mary Marslender, a former senior advisor to the U.S. Senate and now a Republican consultant, explained how large tech firms circumvent rules to avoid hiring Americans. “Many large American corporations prefer cheaper foreign labor because it gives them greater control over mid‑to‑entry‑level positions while telling Washington that qualified American workers can’t be found,” she said. Marslender noted that some firms post ads in obscure outlets to discourage American applicants and then use technical grounds to disqualify them.

Theo Wold, a former acting assistant attorney general and White House deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy under Trump, highlighted the abundance of American talent. He recalled inventors such as Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce, who grew up in America’s heartland and pioneered the modern world. Wold argued that “America has a unique convergence of brainpower and risk tolerance” and that the country is producing enough STEM graduates to fill all tech openings. He called for investing in domestic talent rather than replacing it with foreign workers on H‑1B visas.

The controversy remains alive as the Trump administration’s proposed fee and Vance’s calls for hiring Americans collide with the tech industry’s long‑standing reliance on the H‑1B program. Fox News Digital reached out to Y Combinator for comment but has yet to receive a response. The debate underscores ongoing tensions over immigration policy, labor market competition, and the role of foreign workers in the U.S. technology sector.