Trump sanctions 120,000 H-1B visas amid tech crunch. What does it mean for Indian professionals?

The Trump administration has approved 120,141 H-1B visas for FY 2026, amid huge tech layoffs.

The Trump administration has approved more than 120,000 H-1B visas for fiscal year 2026.

The U.S. approved over 120,000 H-1B visas for FY2026, sparking debate among Republicans.(REUTERS)

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) newly published data revealed that 120,141 H-1B visas have been granted so far. US Tech Workers posted on X, “120,141 NEW H-1Bs selected for FY2026. Demand remains high despite layoffs—a clear sign U.S. workers are being replaced.”

Since Donald Trump took office again, the issue of the H-1B visa program has come up once more, mainly among Republicans. There are conservatives who use technology, and then there are the hardline protectionists who stand by the America First view.

Republican Party is far from settled with this approval rate

USCIS opened its visa registration process from 7 March to 24 March amid huge layoffs. TechCrunch reported that more than 50,000 tech workers lost their jobs across the U.S. between January and April 2025. Still, companies continue to apply in large numbers for H-1B candidates, many of whom are Indian professionals.

The newly approved visa numbers are slightly lower than the 135,137 selected for FY2025 and the 188,400 approved for FY2024. Indian engineers, data scientists, and software developers make up the largest share of H-1B recipients each year.

Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec slammed this in his podcast despite Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy vouching for it, saying, “America first means the American people first... We are not tech company first. We are not military-industrial complex first. No, we are American people first.”

“The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers... comes down to the c-word: culture,” Ramaswamy defended. “If we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH.”

Elon Musk also weighed in on the issue, suggesting, “Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.”