US pollster sparks row after calling on American firms to 'de-Indianise' workforce

Mark Mitchell, a prominent US commentator and pollster, has triggered controversy after suggesting that major American companies should "de-Indianise" themselves.

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He stated that he intends to launch a consultancy to assist corporations with this process.

Remarks prompt debate

Mitchell’s remarks, posted on X, have prompted extensive debate on social media regarding the role of Indian professionals in the United States’ technology sector.

“I have never in my life wanted anything more than this, to build a new corporate consultancy helping major firms de-Indianise,” Mitchell wrote. Responding to a user who commented on the post, he added, “I would work until I drop dead.”

The comments came just days after Mitchell, CEO of Rasmussen Reports, criticised the rising number of Indian professionals entering the US under the H-1B visa programme during a podcast appearance.

Rasmussen Reports, one of America’s leading polling organisations, is known for its daily national tracking surveys on politics, economics and consumer sentiment.

Senior H-1B workers targeted

Mitchell’s post expressing his desire to start a consultancy to “de-Indianise” US companies followed his earlier remarks that sending back senior H-1B tech workers should be a priority.

Speaking on Stephen Bannon’s War Room podcast, Mitchell condemned what he described as the dominance of Indian workers in the H-1B system. He argued that deporting a senior H-1B developer at a major firm such as Apple was, in economic terms, equivalent to deporting ten undocumented immigrants.

“But for every single H-1B senior developer at Apple that we send back, that’s the equivalent economically of deporting ten illegal aliens. I don’t know why we didn’t do that yesterday. And yes, many of these people are entry level, but many of them are earning a great deal of money,” he said on the podcast released on 8 December.

The pollster further claimed that 12 million American tech workers had been left jobless because the “foreign-born workforce” had “Indified” Silicon Valley.

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“Silicon Valley has some of the highest real-estate prices in the entire country. Its workforce is roughly two-thirds foreign-born. There were Walmart buildings that were about 85–95% Indian nationals, and they come in on these golden pathways and take these jobs,” he asserted.

Immigrant hiring sidelines Americans

He also accused major US tech firms of depending on low-cost immigrant labour, contending that this practice sidelines American employees. According to Mitchell, experienced American engineers are being overlooked in favour of what he called a “bottomless well of younger third-world engineers”.

“People like me, who have a family, who are a bit more expensive, who may have received a few raises — my health insurance costs a bit more — are very easy to replace, and to have me train my replacement,” he said.

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“A single H-1B developer earning USD 90,000 is like importing 10 undocumented labourers earning USD 9 an hour,” he added.

Mitchell’s “de-Indianise” remark has drawn sharp criticism online, with many users accusing him of racism.