• Source:JND
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A fiery exchange over US immigration erupted on social media this week between Nalin Haley, son of former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, and British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, highlighting the ongoing tensions surrounding the H-1B visa debate and mass migration.

Nalin, 24, ignited the row with a post on X on Thursday, calling for an end to mass immigration. He cited overcrowding, economic fragility, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market. “We have too many people. It's irresponsible to let in immigrants when companies aren’t already hiring. The last thing we need is foreigners taking away jobs Americans can do,” he wrote.

Hasan Highlights Family Immigrant History

Hasan, who is of Indian descent and the founder of media outlet Zeteo, responded by pointing out a historical irony: Nalin’s own grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, migrated to the US from Punjab, India, in 1969. Randhawa, a distinguished academic, earned a master’s degree in biology and pursued a PhD at the University of British Columbia before moving to South Carolina, where he joined Voorhees College as faculty. He passed away in June last year.

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“Nalin’s grandfather, Ajit Singh Randhawa, the late father of Nikki Haley, a Sikh immigrant from India, had to confront similar bogus anti-immigrant arguments from the right when he moved to the US for work in 1969,” Hasan noted. Hasan himself has Indian roots, with his parents having migrated to the UK from Hyderabad. 

The clash comes amid a broader national debate on migration and cultural integration. Hours before this exchange, US Republican Congressman Brandon Gill made headlines for telling Hasan to “go back to the UK” during a discussion over the broadcasting of the Muslim call to prayer (azan) in the US Hasan defended the practice, stating, “If you can play church bells, you can play the call to prayer. We are as American as anyone else and don’t take any BS from anyone.”

Gill fired back, criticising Hasan’s stance and highlighting his own familial ties to India through his wife, a Christian Indian American, claiming that her religious preferences justified his opposition to the azaan. Hasan countered, noting the inconsistency in opposing cultural expressions while benefiting from immigrant connections himself.

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Nalin escalated the social media spat by rejecting Hasan’s historical comparison, suggesting the journalist “should be denaturalised if he hates this country so much.” He wrote, “This ain’t 1969, bud. All you do is complain about America anyway.”

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