.jpg)
For decades, Indian immigrants arriving on H-1B visas shaped Texas's engineering, medical and business industries. Now some of those same workers say they no longer feel welcome, as anti-Hindu rhetoric and political pressure on the visa programme intensify across the state.
The shift is visible in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb where, according to census data, 17% of residents identify as South Asian , eight times the state's average. The community's professional profile is striking: of roughly 3.2 million Indian immigrants in the United States, more than 80% hold bachelor's degrees, with a median annual income of $176,200, compared with $81,400 for native-born Americans.
Despite that record, Republican politicians are now casting doubt on whether the community belongs. West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn finances a social media outlet called Texas Scorecard, where presenter Sara Gonzales produced a series of videos attacking employers that hired South Asians through the H-1B programme. With one of his biggest donors targeting the Hindu American community, Governor Greg Abbott has distanced himself from past celebrations of Hindu holidays. State politician Mitch Little joined other conservatives in calling for limits on H-1B holders working in Texas, while U.S. Representative Keith Self, R-McKinney, introduced the Pause Act to halt all immigration.
The political reversal is sharp. Abbott had previously toured India, touted an $18 billion trade relationship between the two and hosted a Diwali celebration at the Governor's Mansion.
Pooja Sethi, a Democratic candidate for Texas House District 47, is poised to become the first Hindu to serve in the Texas Legislature. She has said elected officials need to stop pointing at one group of people and instead focus on policy that helps all Texans.
Sociologists note that when a minority group becomes more prominent and successful, some members of the majority begin to perceive them as a threat , a pattern that now appears to be playing out in Texas, with direct consequences for the H-1B holders and their families who built careers there.
