- By Supratik Das
- Mon, 04 Aug 2025 03:08 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A Miami hotel has unleashed public outrage on the Internet after a video emerged purporting to show a virtual receptionist, widely assumed by others to be from India, helping guests through a video screen at check-in. The incident has reignited a fierce debate around job outsourcing, immigration policy, and American employment priorities, with netizens demanding accountability.
The controversy broke out after TikTok user Pete Langs (@languageguy1) uploaded a video of himself checking into a La Quinta hotel in Miami. A man is seen on a screen at the front desk performing the check-in remotely in the video. The virtual receptionist respectfully inquires, "Do you need one room key or two room keys?" to which Langs replies, "Two, in case I lose one." The employee then proceeds to walk him through the registration procedures. Though the nationality or location of the employee is not established by the video, most people assumed he was Indian and telecommuting from outside of the US—igniting anger at what many perceive as American jobs being outsourced to India.
Social Media Outrage Explodes
The clip soon went viral on TikTok and Instagram, with thousands of users fuming. The outrage was more severe on X (formerly Twitter), where several tagged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, calling for a legal prohibition on virtual overseas hires in customer-facing jobs. "Is Miami really outsourcing hotel check-in to India?" exclaimed one user. "This is Miami, not Mumbai. Employ Americans first," said another. "Boycott La Quinta. They're stealing jobs from Americans!" was a common post. Comments escalated to hostility, with one commenter saying, "Everything is outsourced to India now. This will be the next big immigration crisis," and another stating, "India should be paying Americans for having to put up with them."
The hotel, believed to be part of the La Quinta Inn & Suites chain, has not issued any official statement so far. It remains unclear whether the virtual receptionist was directly employed by the hotel or through a third-party vendor.
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Immigration Tensions Rise As Deportation Numbers Increase
The outrage also comes amid increased anti-immigrant attitudes in America. Official statistics made public by India's Ministry of External Affairs indicate that 7,244 Indians were deported between January 2020 and July 2025 from America. Significantly, 1,703 Indians have been deported since former U.S. President Donald Trump started his second term in 2024, which indicates increased enforcement.
Calls are mounting for state and federal authorities to look into remote hiring practices, particularly in hospitality, a sector that employs millions of American workers. Governor Ron DeSantis's office has not made a public comment so far on the social media calls, but the situation has certainly fueled political and public discourse ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterms.