“He has only destroyed Congress….No voter is with him,” BJP’s Dilip Jaiswal slams Rahul Gandhi over H-1B visa criticism

“Till date, he has only destroyed Congress. Until he is the leader of Congress, it will be destroyed. He has been instigating people… No voter in the country is with him, and he only defames himself and loses his dignity,” he said.On Saturday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, attacked PM Narendra Modi after US President Donald Trump imposed a USD 100,000 fee for H1B visas.

In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi referenced his 2017 post, in which he had questioned the PM for not addressing the H1B visa issue with Donald Trump, who was then in his first term as President.Rahul posted, “I repeat, India has a weak PM.”

The Congress’s outburst comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s new presidential proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Non-immigrant Workers”, imposing a USD 100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa applications. The measure, effective from September 21, aims to combat what the administration calls widespread abuse of the H-1B programme, particularly by IT outsourcing firms accused of displacing American workers and suppressing wages.

The proclamation argues that the original purpose of H-1B, to bring in highly skilled foreign talent, has been distorted, with the administration claiming that low-wage, entry-level H-1B hires have harmed American graduates and also highlights national security concerns, pointing to investigations into visa fraud and money laundering involving companies that rely heavily on the programme.

Meanwhile, earlier, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarified that the USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications will only apply to the new applicants and not to the petitions submitted before September 21.”This proclamation only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed. The proclamation does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed before the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or have validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas,” Joseph B Edlow, Director of USCIS, clarified in a memorandum on Saturday (local time).

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also confirmed the same. She also stated that the USD 100,000 fee on the H-1B visa application is a one-time fee, clarifying the misconception that it is an annual fee.